


Better Together

by TailorNorata



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alpha Stiles, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Anger Management, Blow Jobs, Bottom Peter, I might dive a little too deep into the social stuff at times, I'm Bad At Tagging, Insecurity, Kissing, M/M, Mates, Mating, Mental Health Issues, Non-Sexual Violation of Consent, Omega Peter, Peter as a Therapist, Self-Lubrication, Smaller Age-Gap, Social Issues, Steter Secret Santa 2016, Stiles as a Social Worker, Teen Derek and siblings, Top Stiles, emotional issues, low self-esteem issues, mention of anxiety attacks, mention of bdsm/kinks, mention of nogitsune - Freeform, mention of past mental rape, mention of rape, there will be more tags as this progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8917624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TailorNorata/pseuds/TailorNorata
Summary: While not fitting the desired picture of their respective group and sometimes even outright defying it their shared struggles might just be what brings them closer together.





	1. The Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mysenia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysenia/gifts).



When Stiles had only been in bed for maybe two hours his phone rang.

He looked at the display, ready to swipe the person away just to see it was his father, reluctantly answering it instead.

 

“What's up Daddy-o?” he asked without hiding his exhaustion.

  
  


“Good morning son, I am sorry if I woke you up but I have great news. A matchmake. visiting town. I just spoke to her and she said she'd love to add an alpha mage to her register.”

Stiles yawned, trying to figure out what to think about this.

 

He understood his father's wishes for him to find a sweet, loving omega and the whole schtick but he really just didn't see the point considering he probably was too weird for even the most caring omega to consider. After all, who would want an Alpha who wasn't planning on ever breeding? Stiles had no intentions of having kids.

 

Obviously he hadn't told his father that, not in all that clarity anyways, it would probably break the sheriff's heart.

 

“Dad...look I really don't think this is going to help me-”

 

“Stop it Stiles.”

 

His father had put on his authoritative voice and Stiles stopped talking.

“Look son, I really do understand you aren't comfortable with the situation and you are insecure about what it will mean for your future, but I felt the same way, really. I was afraid and skeptical and convinced I'd never find someone who would want me as their mate just the way I am but when I met your mother...”

 

Stiles could feel the love his father still had for his mate and some part of him did envy that kind of connection but still, it wasn't all that probable and trying to force it was a waste of time in his opinion. Still he probably would agree to meet the matchmaker in the end, John Stilinski was persistent that way.

 

“I understand what you are saying Dad. I just don't feel like it will be worth the effort.”

 

“Nonsense Stiles, it's just an afternoon of filling out a few papers and then all you have to do is wait for results. You will have offers in no time, Mages are very popular.”

 

Stiles was aware, although it was less about attraction and more about the usefulness of a Mage who was willing to do you favors, which – on principle – he wasn't.

 

“Stiles, why don't you just give it a try. I mean, the worst that can happen is for nothing to change, right?”

 

Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. “I guess I can do the papers stuff, it's not doing me any harm.”

 

“Great, I already asked when there is a free appointment and she said she can squeeze you in tomorrow afternoon.”

 

Of course he did. “Thanks Dad, now can I please go back to sleep?”

“Oh, yes, right, sure, sweet dreams son.”

 

“Thanks, have a great day Dad.”

 

“Thank you, I love you.”

  
  


“I love you too.”

 

Before this could end in a few back and forth of trying to figure out who would hang up Stiles simply did, hoping he didn't cut off his father in the midst of another goodbye.

With a groan he fell back into his pillows and it only took a few moments before he was already drifting back into sleep.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Peter and Laura were just training Derek to control his shift when faced with the dominance of an Alpha when Talia and Cora arrived, carrying groceries.

 

“Don't teach him too much Peter!” the woman yelled, glancing at them. “I don't need my son ending up alone like his uncle because he can't find his place.”

 

Peter shot his sister a hurt glance before showing a bitter smile. “No worries, the puppy is way too dependent to ever take after me in that regard.”

 

“Hey!” Derek protested but when Peter looked at him with the same bitter expression he promptly shut his mouth.

 

Laura laughed loudly “You are such a weird omega uncle Peter.”

 

Peter gave her a sweet although very sarcastic smile “You are such a basic Alpha.”

 

Talia came back from the house, without the groceries now and cut off any remark Laura might have had made by letting out a whistle, calling them in to prepare dinner together.

 

When Peter was contentedly chopping vegetables, everyone being busy with their tasks Talia threw him off with an unexpected information.

 

“You have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.”

 

“You who?” Cora asked with curiosity.

 

“I meant Peter.” Talia added and he sighed since he had hoped she didn't.

 

“An appointment for what exactly?” he asked then.

 

“A matchmaker, there's one in town and I decided, since it worked quite well for me you should try it out too.”

 

“You are joking, right?”

  
  


“Not in the slightest.”

 

He had stopped chopping carrots and looked at her back incredulously until she stopped pretending she didn't feel his annoyance with her and turned around to look at him expectantly while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

 

“Why would you think this was what I wanted?” he asked, challenging her decision.

 

“Why would you think this was about what you want.”

 

“I beg you pardon?” Was she fucking serious?

 

“I am the alpha of this pack Peter and you are an unmated omega over thirty. You know how badly that reflects on me.”

 

“It's my body Talia! My life! I don't intend to tie myself to some person I just met because they happen to produce the right pheromones for me to get wet! This whole Alpha-Omega thing is so antiquated in times when our biggest threat is to accidentally send a mail to the wrong person, I can't believe you would try to force me to submit to it!”

 

His sister pressed her lips together and stared at him while her kids stared at the two of them. “Look, I understand why you hate the system and I really hate to do this to you because you are my brother and I love you very much. But like I said, it reflects badly on me and eventually it might lead to someone challenging me for our land. Do you want that? Do you want some aggressive asshole alpha to get our territory because he felt he could take it from me? Because I seemed weak?

 

There are way more serious threats out there and you know that. Just show the damn town you are doing something! As long as they think I am sending you to find an Alpha they won't question me. But if you don't there will be a point where I'll have to let you go. Do you understand?”

 

He did, fully.

 

She felt forced to push him into this or to oust him from the pack to protect her children and her partners. He couldn't even really be mad at her, although he was a little bit hurt by it.

They had been each other’s only family and pack for quite a while after their parents died before Talia had chosen her first partner to have a child with.

 

There always had been a level of understanding between them. Talia understood why Peter only ever dated Betas or other Omegas, the same reason she only ever mated with Betas herself. With the shift and life in general there was no need to complicate life further by risking going in heat.

 

They both took suppressants against it too since he had hit puberty to prevent awkward situations.

 

Obviously they had talked about the issue of him being an unmated omega before but up until now she had always more or less respected his wish not to be mated. Her words suggested she actually still did so what had changed?

 

They had stared at each other while Talia waited for his answer patiently while Derek seemed to feel the tension in the room and whined lowly, clearly wishing to leave.

 

“What aren't you telling me Talia? Has someone said something?”

 

The Alpha furrowed her brows, obviously contemplating how much she should tell him.

After a few moments she sighed and uncrossed her arms, seeming more resigned than angry. “At the last Alpha conference Deucalion asked me how you are doing and if you have been mated yet...and obviously that isn't an outright confession but we both know that creep always wanted you to be his. If he decides to claim you, there isn't much I can do without putting the rest of the pack in danger.”

 

A feeling as if a hand was slowly tightening its grip around his chest settled into Peter and for a few moments he only could stare at his sister.

 

Deucalion. He hadn't seen that guy in almost seven years and still he could remember his presence and aura like it was yesterday he had to stay calm under his lewd gaze and confronted with his unwanted advances. The president of the werewolf council had clearly been impressed with him but Peter wasn't impressed with the president, not even a little.

He groaned in frustration after processing the information and let his head fall into his hands.

 

“When did you say the appointment was?” He asked with his voice muffled by his fingers.

 

Maybe he could just find an Alpha to date for show so Deucalion couldn't simply claim him without causing a scene.

 

After all, claiming wasn't technically legal anymore. 'Technically' being the relevant part of that sentence though.

  
  


~*~

  
  


When he entered his old school, where the whole matchmaker thing was set up Stiles steeled himself against the memories it held for him.

He had never liked school all that much, especially since he hadn't fit in with the conventional social structures.

 

The whole cafeteria was full of at least fifty people with sheets of paper they were filling out or brochures they were holding in their hands or reading.

 

A sweet young woman with bangs and all sorts of papers in her arms locked eyes with him and smiled widely.

 

“Hi, here for the matchmaking?”

 

“Uh...yeah.” He scratched his neck and took another glance around the room, trying not to think what utter bullshit this was.

 

“Great, alpha, beta or omega?”

 

He raised his brows in surprise, he hadn't even thought about the possibility of betas participating. “Alpha.”

 

She gave him a once over and tilted her head to the side.

 

“Huh, I guess you really can't always tell. Your name please.”

 

He sighed, trying to find his professional persona and gave her a halfhearted but charming smile.

 

“I guess not. It's Stilinski.”

 

After apparently checking him off a list she flicked through the papers she was holding and handed him a sheet with both sides full of things he had to fill out and two brochures like those others were reading already.

 

“You will need these. Just fill that one out, everything you might want to know about the program is in this brochure and the other one is an info paper about the rules you have to agree to, when you are done just wait until we come to you for the one on one with the matchmaker.”

 

He took everything and nodded, giving her another reluctant smile to assure her he had understood. “Thank you.”

 

She nodded him off and he shuffled to the side, giving the cafeteria another look, trying to find a place where he could be more or less to himself.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Peter had been staring at the admittedly quite simple question for a while now.

 

**What are you looking for? [ ] Alpha [ ] Beta [ ] Both**

 

The option of looking for another omega wasn't even present and it frustrated him a little bit, although choosing to look for an omega obviously would have defeated the purpose of finding someone to keep Deucalion off his ass.

 

Still, they didn't consider it a valid choice and he deeply judged them for it.

 

Annoyed with the whole concept he shoved the sheet aside and rested his head in his hand propped up on the table, observing the other participants.

 

There were some who seemed attractive enough, none of them were alphas he assumed.

 

Alphas were usually easy to spot.

 

They tended to demand attention and the submission of others even when they were only standing around or walking.

 

If you saw two people walking towards each other you could be quite certain the alpha would expect you to step aside so they can pass you.

 

He actually liked to defy such expectations.

 

Some alphas even went out of their way to force others to give them room.

 

Omegas on the other hand tended to unthinkingly make space, be considerate, try not to cause any ruffled feathers. Obviously not all of them, Peter didn't do it, but many, either out of instinct or conditioning tended to act just like that, just like 'nature' intended them to.

The absurdity! They were civilized people, even if nature had given them attributes for different roles when it came to reproduction, there was no need to base everything those people were allowed to do and be simply on that one difference. He should be as free as any alpha and any alpha should be allowed to be as insecure and loving and caring as any omega was expected to be.

 

As he observed the people in the room he realized someone seemed to be heading for the table he was sitting at on his own. For a moment he was confused why but then he realized this was one of the few tables where only one or two people were sitting so it made sense.

 

The guy, tall and lanky, almost scrawny didn't look bad.

 

He maneuvered through the people with a certain elegance, without ever touching anyone and had something Peter would almost call a shimmering aura – the guy apparently was a mage of some kind. The question that fact let arise was what an omega, or maybe beta mage was doing at this place. They were rare and most alphas would give an arm or leg for a mage as their mate.

 

He wasn't even unattractive in Peter's opinion, rather the opposite.

 

When the young man sat down across from Peter he could really admire his sharp features, plush lips and clear amber brown eyes with those long, dark lashes.

 

Even the moles his skin was sprinkled with only added to the endearing picture.

 

The guy gave Peter a genuine smile.

 

“Take a pictures so you can stare at it longer.”

 

Peter blinked and grinned apologetic. “I didn't mean to, I was just surprised to see a good looking mage at a matchmaker event.”

 

The guy blushed a little bit and grinned himself. “Oh, you can see auras, that explains it, sorry, I guess that's a fair question to ask oneself. Apparently, even we glorious mages can fail to find the right mate. Although I admittedly doubt this here will be the solution to my problem.”

 

Peter snorted and nodded in agreement while pretending to bring his attention back to his own sheet but instead giving the guy's sheet a quick glance.

 

Just right there in the top left corner where Peter's said 'Omega' his had written 'Alpha' on it.

 

Well that was a surprise.

 

The next moment Peter scolded himself for assuming the guy had to be an Omega or Beta because he wasn't parading around as if he owned the place. He himself would hate to be pigeonholed that way.

 

Instead of further stalking the guy he actually went back to filling out his form, choosing to check the box for 'Alpha' since that was what he had set out to find for himself.

  
  


~*~

  
  


The guy Stiles decided to sit with seemed nice enough and after their little bit of small talk he just went to filling out his sheet.

 

The first questions were easy, stuff like age, gender, sexual orientation, job and so on.

Then they became more specific.

 

**Do you take suppressants?**

 

**How fast/strong do you react to Omegas in heat?**

 

**On a scale from 1-10, how intense is your rut?**

 

**Describe in three sentences what you are looking for in a partner:**

 

**Describe in three sentences what you consider your best qualities:**

 

**How many kids do you want to have?**

 

**Are there attributes which you can't accept in a partner?**

 

**Would you be able and willing to be the sole provider of you and your partner?**

 

He shifted uncomfortably around while biting his lower lip and restlessly moving his legs.

 

How the hell should he know what he was looking for in an omega? He wasn't looking for an omega at all, at least not in the classic kind.

 

He wasn't all that far away from simply getting up and leaving when the guy on the other side of the table addressed him.

 

“Are you all right? You seem kinda bummed out...”

 

Looking up Stiles saw the man's face in more detail for the first time.

He felt like he had seen him before, maybe at town hall meetings or something, he seemed confident and calm, it was instantly soothing to see into those clear blue eyes while hearing the man's soft, although kinda cynical voice – as if everything was at least a little bit of a joke to him, not Stiles in particular, but life.

 

“Ehm...I guess I am realizing this really isn't going to work for me.”

 

The guy smiled and gave him a questioning look. “Why did you come here in the first place then? The whole thing is quite straightforward.”

 

“I promised my dad I’d do it...since I am failing to secure a partner without help...”

 

For this answer he got a nod but not much else before the man asked another question, or rather gave Stiles another perspective to look at what he had to do. “So really this is the easiest way to keep your dad from bothering you with that topic?”

 

“I guess...”

 

“So really doing this now is actually a little price to pay for your freedom from the topic later on?”

 

“Probably...”

 

“So then, I'd think it's best if you keep answering those stupid questions.”

 

Stiles smiled reluctantly and sighed before nodding. “You are right. Thanks....uh...I don't know your name...”

 

“Peter” said Peter and held out his hand over the table.

 

Stiles took his hand, shook it and smiled more confident.

 

“Thanks, Peter. You can call me Stiles.”

 

“Well, we are kinda sitting in the same boat I guess, so you are welcome.”

 

“So you can't find an omega either?”

 

The man laughed bitterly.

 

“Omegas aren't the issue. I actually need an alpha.”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Peter saw the young man called Stiles blush.

 

It was a beautiful sight as his cheeks started to glow in a healthy pink.

 

“I...sorry, I really shouldn't have assumed you were an alpha, I simply assumed it because of your confident appearance.”

 

“It's okay, I thought you were an Omega too in the beginning so I guess we are even.”

 

Stiles smiled sheepishly. “I guess so. Although, in your defense, I trained to not act obviously like an alpha.”

 

That sounded interesting, although a little bit strange. To Peter it often felt like the world belonged to alphas so why would anybody make an effort not to be recognized as the group with the most privileges? 

 

“I hope you don't mind the question, but why?”

 

The younger man's smile widened. “I'm a social worker, I work a lot in conflict management and de-escalation. It's important to be able to stay calm and listen to the people involved without further scaring or enraging them.”

 

An alpha mage social worker.

 

So he probably had mostly omegas in his work environment.

 

Social services weren't a place where you found alphas all that often.

Not finding a partner with those odds was pretty weird.

 

Peter doubted Stiles' colleagues would mind him not being all that dominant, they would probably understand why it was a necessity. Was Stiles married to his work?  Did he have weird fetishes?

 

Peter was pretty curious about the guy but also he didn't want to pry, at least not openly.

In case they got matched he didn't want Stiles to think of him as the rudely nosy type.

Instead he went with a more subtle approach.

 

“Must suck to pretend you are something you aren't.”

 

Stiles answered one of the questions he still had left before leaning back a little and smiling again.

 

Peter couldn't decide if it was kind of goofy or charming; somehow he ended up deciding it was both?

 

“It probably would be if I had been your regular cliché alpha before training, but I never was all that...macho. I had like bursts of anger and energy now and then but as a mage you have to learn to find your self control no matter the stress you are facing. I probably wouldn't have chosen to become a social worker if I hadn't always felt a little out of place in classic alpha positions. I most likely would have become a cop like my dad.”

 

A police alpha as father, that explained why the guy was here just to please his old man.

 

First Peter had thought Stiles was still quite dependent for a tween but now he understood.

 

The police force mostly attracted the most dominant and violent of alphas.

 

Although thanks to people like Peter they were forced to turn away those who were more violent than naturally dominant.

 

“You don't like cops?”

 

The question surprised Peter and brought his attention back to Stiles. “It's not that I don't like them...they just don't seem to like me all that much.”

  
  


~*~

  
  


So Peter really had some sort of tie to the police force?

 

“Are you a criminal?”

 

His question got him an annoyed look from the man but he seemed willing to answer. “Charming. If the police don't like me, I have to be one of the bad guys. No, I am a Therapist, I assess people's mental health and stability for the state, mostly in court or when an officer was forced to fire his weapon and such.”

 

First Stiles was simply surprised. “I wouldn't have thought a therapist has trouble finding a partner.”

 

Then he realized how rude that probably sounded and his cheeks started to glow deeply red, deeper than before. “I am very sorry-”

 

He wanted to say more but a woman yelled “Peter Hale” into the room and the man across from Stiles stood up and grabbed his stuff.

 

“Nice to meet you Stiles. And don't worry, I'm not offended.” He smiled confidently and walked to the exit while Stiles stared at his broad shoulders and strong back.

 

Just then he recognized the man's last name. Apparently he was part of the Hale family, his father had mentioned the local family of werewolves once or twice. He was curious if Peter was a werewolf too. It somehow would have suited the man; he had a slightly predatory aura.

  
  


~*~

  
  


When Peter had finished his interview with the oh so great “matchmaker” (who actually was just an old lady with antiquated opinions about relationships), he let his gaze wander over the slowly thinning crowd of people until he spotted the man he had met before. Stiles.

 

He weighed his options but in the end he decided to go with his gut. So he headed for Stiles' table and retrieved one of his cards out of his wallet before approaching the table where the mage was still sitting.

 

“Hey...Stiles was it, right?”

 

The young man looked up from his sheet and gave Peter a genuine smile as he recognized him.

 

“Yeah, it is. So you are done. Was it as bad as I think?”

 

Peter comically screwed up his face at the question. “True torment.”

 

“Well that certainly makes me feel better” Stiles said sarcastically, and raised one brow at Peter. “Why exactly did you say you are doing this?”

 

Peter felt a bit torn. Somehow, Stiles made him want to tell him everything.  At the same time, Peter not only felt it wasn't any of Stiles' concern, but also, he just wasn't one to share that kind of thing. He liked keeping his information and knowledge to himself...usually.

  
  


“I need an alpha, that's pretty much it. On a somewhat related note though, I didn't come back here to keep sharing our misery but rather I wanted to give you this.”

 

He placed his card on top of the mage's sheet and smiled as invitingly as he could. “Maybe you’ll feel like giving me a call, whether or not we are actually 'matched' with each other.”

 

There it was again, that lovely blush on Stiles' cheeks. He smiled awkwardly and looked at the card, then back at Peter. “I...uh...I'm flattered, really. But just so you know, I am really bad at this.”

 

Peter wasn't sure if Stiles was trying to let him down gently or meant it the way he said it. He decided not to ask further at this point and instead raised his hands in faux surrender. “I just wanted to make my interest known. Call me or not... I won't hold it against you either way. Good luck in there.”

 

Then he winked and made his way out of the school building, again with Stiles staring at his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for reading the first chapter of my first fanfiction!  
> English isn't my first language and I have never written fanfiction before at all. Steter Secret Santa though just gave me the necessary push to try it out. I know my portrayal of the characters might not agree with everyone because we all have our own idea of what they would be like in AUs and all that but I hope you can still appreciate my work. I'd love some constructive feedback if you have some and will probably be over the moon for any comments or kudos, if I might get them.  
> Happy Holidays and happy secret santa to Mysenia! I hope you like the first chapter and I hope you can forgive me for not finishing the whole fanfiction yet but it kind of grew and grew and now has become something of a project.  
> I'll do my best to upload frequently though.  
> Again, thanks for reading!


	2. De-escalation

Stiles didn't call.

 

The card was in his wallet. He had thought about that guy Peter for the better part of the last six weeks. The few times the matchmaker had called to tell him about one or another great match they had found, every time he in turn had found one or another reason not to consider meeting the person.

 

Every time he had considered calling Peter, though Stiles had felt insecure and clueless about how to handle it. Partly because he wasn't even sure what kind of interest Peter had been talking about.

 

When the man was looking for an actual alpha Stiles really was the last person to consider going out with. And even if it was only in the sense of needing someone born as an alpha there would still be the question of whether he meant he needed a pack, a partner, or something else entirely.

 

Fate however, seemed to have plans for them to meet again either way.

It was almost at the end of Stiles' shift when a call came in from the beacon hills’ police station.

 

It was the sheriff, his father who had requested him specifically.

 

Others might have thought his father was favoring him because of their connection but Stiles knew for a fact that his father would never put his son in harm's way if he didn't think he was the best person for the job. And luckily for him his coworkers knew this as well, so no one questioned the request for a second. Or rather, no one Stiles cared about. He jumped into his old jeep and ignored the speed limits, getting to the station in under five minutes. Stumbling out of the car and into the station he ran right into deputy Parrish.

 

“Hey Parrish, the sheriff asked for me, but didn't really specify why.”

 

Parrish seemed grim but capable, with a tranquilizer gun in one hand and signaling Stiles to follow him with the other. “There is a situation in one of our holding cells. Your dad – the sheriff, tried to de-escalate it after he called you but got wounded in the process. He isn't hurt all that badly but he also can't do much without possibly making it worse. The troublemaker is one of us, it's deputy Wallace. The other people in there are Wallace's wife and a guy working for the oversight agency.”

 

Stiles nodded and glanced at the tranquilizer gun. “Just in case?”

 

Parrish nodded too and smiled grimly “Yeah...just in case. You feel ready to do this?”

 

Stiles gave the deputy a half hearted smile. “This is my job you know...however, in case something actually goes wrong, please keep those tranquilizers at the ready.”

 

“I will.”

 

When Stiles entered the room with the holding cells he already had a magical cube forming between his fingers. The first thing he heard and recognized was the heavy breathing of someone or something exhausted, and the hysteric and aggressive words of a woman. The noises accompanied the view of a tall, muscular woman holding a dangerous looking knife. She was yelling at an also tall but softer seeming woman, and a heavily breathing and half turned werewolf was standing between them. He was shielding the soft woman against the muscular one while Stiles' father was simply leaning against one of the walls, holding on to a wound in his upper thigh and to his actual gun.

 

Releasing the cube Stiles mumbled a few words and it grew, seeming less and less massive but instead becoming translucent and finally engulfing all of them in a slightly green and cold glow.

 

The cube was an additional magic containment cell which Stiles would be able to manipulate at will, if necessary. It wasn't all that strong of a spell, a determined person would be able to break through but in case that happened Stiles knew by heart what steps to take next.

 

First part of every de-escalation was introducing yourself in a nonthreatening manner.

This meant he stood in the door frame of the cell when the cube engulfed everyone else, cleared his throat and waited for them to pay attention to him. He didn't raise his hands, didn't hold any magic and expertly contained his dominant aura as much as possible. As expected, his appearance prompted everyone involved to stare at him while a moment of silence occurred in which he smiled apologetically, not saying a word since here were emotions and instincts at play, not necessarily rational thoughts.

 

Next step was assessing the current moods and likeliness to cause conflict in the involved individuals.

 

Most important were the aggressive parties, in this case Deputy Melanie Wallace, the muscular, tall woman and the half turned werewolf. Stiles hadn't identified him yet.

Deputy Wallace wasn't a supernatural alpha but probably due to her interaction with the werewolf she snarled at Stiles after her first aggressive fixation and went back to staring at her opponent from before. The werewolf on the other hand had just glanced at Stiles as a newcomer and then turned back to Wallace immediately, apparently making sure she had no opportunity to break his defense and get to the other woman. His eyes were glowing intensely blue, so he wasn't an alpha which meant he most likely was a beta or wouldn't have been able to hold his ground with an alpha for that long. He could be an omega of course, but it wasn't likely and also didn't really matter right now.

 

The woman was easy to identify as Theresa Wallace, Deputy Wallace's wife. She seemed more sad than scared but still stayed carefully behind the werewolf's back to shield herself from her partner. Except for a bruise forming on her cheekbones, she seemed unharmed,  unlike Stiles' father. The sheriff's pants were soaked in dark blood,which was seeping out between his fingers. He seemed worried about it but also determined to keep standing since sitting or lying down would have signaled submission and he couldn't allow that to happen. His instincts wouldn't let him unless it was a matter of life or death, which this wasn't.

 

Step three, separate the conflicting parties.

 

He made a step into the room and cleared his throat once more.

 

Assessing Deputy Wallace as the main threat due to the werewolf's defensive posture and behavior he turned his body to face the deputy slightly more than the werewolf, presenting himself as another layer of protection for Theresa. He made sure to keep his head a bit lower than the alpha and made sure to send calming and soothing emotions through his aura into hers, putting his degree in nonverbal empathic telepathy to full use.

 

“Deputy Wallace.” His voice was soft and smooth, his shoulders slumped, his face and body language open, it was more than non-threatening, it was relaxed, radiating relaxation, doing his best to push his inner tension to the back of his mind as he had been trained.

 

The deputy narrowed her eyes and didn't seem all that pleased to see him but didn't make any efforts to get rid of him either.

 

“Stilinski...” was the first thing she snarled while her nose was wrinkled up in something similar to disgust, repulsion. Usually she liked him okay, but at this moment she truly hated the fact he was here, he could sense it quite easily and it almost made him smile.

 

Deputy Wallace was a smart woman even if she had a bad temper, she knew exactly why Stiles was interfering and she didn't like it one bit.

 

“Yes. With your agreement I would like to raise walls between you and your wife, deputy. As a security measure while we figure out what is going on.”

 

The woman tilted her head to one side and then to the other, not looking at Stiles, not looking at the werewolf but at her wife, hurt and fury dripping from her aura like oil.

 

“How about no. How about I slit that damn dog’s throat and take my fucking wife home with me.”

 

He had hoped it wouldn't be necessary but Stiles felt Wallace building rage inside herself to power through him and the wolf to get to Theresa and he couldn't let that happen.

 

“As you wish.” he responded, dropping the soft and soothing tone of his voice for a moment.

 

Instead of somehow attacking the alpha though he decided to try and pull up the barriers.

Mumbling words in the same language as before, thick elastic walls rose from the ground and trapped the impressive looking woman inside just in time for her to run against it as she wanted to charge through them. The wall didn't hurt her physically but her ego clearly had taken a blow which only fueled her anger towards Stiles and the werewolf even more.

 

Stiles on the other hand only sighed and turned around to the werewolf, who was still standing defensively in front of Theresa Wallace, eyeing the deputy, Stiles and the sheriff.

 

Instead of talking to him Stiles addressed Theresa directly. “How are you Theresa?”

 

She still was clearly upset with the whole situation but gave Stiles a cautious smile, going for cynically casual. “Peachy. How about you, haven't seen you in quite a while.”

 

Stiles returned the smile, Theresa Wallace had always been a strong kind of omega, aware of her worth, rights and abilities while maintaining a facade of an omega wife following the conservative lifestyle of a model citizen as society expected her to.

 

“I'm doing okay. Would you care to introduce me to your adamant defender?”

 

With a surprised and slightly embarrassed smile her cheeks went a few shades redder and she gently put one hand on the wolf's shoulder. “Oh, yes, right. Dr. Hale, I am so sorry I dragged you along and got you into this mess, please forgive me.”

 

At the mention of the name the werewolf's ears weren't the only ones twitching, although Stiles' did so in a more metaphorical sense. He smiled in disbelief as Peter Hale turned around to Theresa, sniffing questioningly, then turning back to Stiles, sniffing again and then finally transforming back into a human form with a somewhat shredded suit.

 

The last thing changing were his eyes which turned into the more natural looking blue Stiles had seen before. The man still seemed alert and slightly stressed about the situation but he only gave deputy Wallace a dirty look and then turned to Theresa again, smiling warily.

 

“Apologies if I overreacted Theresa.” His voice was a bit hoarse and only after that did he actually look at Stiles, apparently just now recognizing him. “Stiles.”

 

The mage shook his head and smirked. “Peter Hale.”

 

He would have liked to talk, hoped they would get a chance for that afterwards but right now there was still a conflict to resolve so he clapped his hands in anticipation. 

 

“All right, now, first of all. Parrish!” He called the deputy's name and the man peeked into the room. It would have been weirdly fast if Stiles hadn't assumed Parrish would stay as close to the situation as possible, meaning he had eavesdropped on them.

 

“Get my dad to a healer, I can question him about the incident later if there might be any need for it.”

 

Parrish simply nodded and stepped in with another officer to support the sheriff while he limped out of the room. Before the door closed behind them Stiles could hear him yell “Proud of you kiddo.”

 

“Thanks dad...” he mumbled before giving his attention back to the situation at hand.

 

Peter silently mouthed 'Dad' while giving him a curious look but Stiles simply shook his head slightly and sat down on one of the benches of the cell.

 

It usually meant dominance to stay on your feet, have others bow down to you, but it was possible to show dominance by sitting down. When everyone else was standing, worked up and on alert it was a clear sign of confidence to simply sit down and stay relaxed and obviously unimpressed.

 

At the same time it wasn’t a generally infuriating gesture compared to puffing your chest and trying to make yourself seem bigger.

 

“Now,  Deputy Wallace seems unwilling to start the de-escalation process” (in fact she was still working against the walls he had put up, walls he by now had reinforced mentally to a point where he would have to be unconscious for her to get through without help) “Mrs. Wallace or Dr. Hale, do you care to start explaining the situation from your perspective?”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Peter was still a bit stunned by Stiles’ appearance. In his wolf form he had been fixated on the deputy and protecting her wife. Beyond realizing somebody else, somebody who’s aura didn’t signal any threat to Theresa had entered the room Peter hadn’t paid any attention to anything but the deputy’s and Mrs. Wallace’ emotional state. Just when Theresa had sensibly relaxed he had been able to relax too. Now here he was, Stiles, way more impressive and attractive than Peter had considered him already. He was still hiding parts of the natural dominance in his aura but a little at a time was seeping through while he started physically and verbally commanding the room in the calmest and least aggressive fashion possible. Step by step easing everybody else into accepting him as authority.

 

When he sat down and asked for clarification it took a few moments in which Peter looked to Theresa to take the lead. He was her and deputy Wallace’s therapist and had virtually no business or right to make any decisions on the matter. He had only accompanied Theresa because she had asked him to, hoping he could prevent an escalation, sadly he hadn’t been able to do so but at least no one got seriously hurt.

 

Theresa then took a few steps toward Stiles and sat down on the other end of the bench, not looking at Stiles or Peter but at her wife, pressing her lips together. “Melanie and I had...issues for a while now. Ever since she worked that case with the wendigo - I am sure you remember it Stiles, it’s the one where…” 

 

When she spoke she seemed extremely calm, resolved, like she had made her peace with everything happening, like she hadn’t really expected otherwise. Stiles nodded in affirmation. It wasn’t surprising, the case had been in the newspaper and the whole police station had kept talking about it. It had been a gruesome series of murders and deputy Wallace had been kidnapped while pursuing a suspect. Only a few people, including Peter, knew what happened to Deputy Melanie Wallace while she had been held captive but in the end she had been found locked in a basement with the dead and decaying wendigo a few days later.

 

Theresa swallowed visibly but continued “Dr. Hale became Mel’s therapist and eventually agreed to do some couple sessions as well since Mel’s trauma affected our marriage pretty heavily. After a while she got better. She is a great detective, she loves her job and I get that, I never cared about coming in second place to her duty. But while she was able to overcome her issues for work there developed a distance and indifference towards me. I asked her to keep going to couples therapy with me, even though we’d have to find a new therapist, I begged her to talk to me, to explain why we never spend time together anymore, why we rarely ever sleep in the same bed, why we practically are living separated but she wouldn’t open up. So eventually I came to the only conclusion I could and decided to protect myself from hurting more than necessary and decided to get a divorce.

 

I came down here today to give Mel the papers, I asked Dr. Hale to come with me, hoping he might be able to prevent the worst. But confronted with my decision she grabbed me and dragged me in here, yelling and telling me I couldn’t leave her, how selfish I was for asking her to let me go and such. I slapped her when she called me selfish and she slapped me back and got out her knife, saying she would rather kill both of us before letting me leave her, which was when Dr. Hale turned to protect me. Just to be clear about that, Dr. Hale didn’t hurt Melanie at all although she tried to attack him several times. I know it’s technically a felony to turn on a deputy but this isn’t what that law is about. Anyway, Sheriff Stilinski came in and tried to pull rank on Melanie but she didn’t care. When he tried to disarm her after she threatened once more to kill herself or me she stabbed his leg. I think it was more of an accident but I guess that’s for the police to decide...the rest is what you witnessed.”

 

Stiles, managed to keep his relaxed appearance but at the same time conveyed compassion by giving Theresa a sad but sympathetic smile which he either meant honestly or acted out flawlessly. “I understand. You two really have been through a lot. I am so sorry you had to tell me, I’m sure you would have prefered to resolve the situation more discreetly. So let’s try and bring this to an end as smoothly as possible.”

 

His voice was velvety and soft but determined and he nodded ever so slightly while speaking until Theresa Wallace subconsciously mimicked it and eventually actually nodded in agreement.

 

“Yes, that would be good. Thank you for doing this, Stiles.”

  
  
  


Such a smart man.

 

Peter leaned on one of the walls by now, intrigued, almost infatuated by how elegantly Stiles got Theresa’s permission to get involved in the conflict, affirming his intervention as something wanted and not only pushed upon them by the government. The legitimacy of his actions was a lot harder to question when one of the affected parties acknowledged it. 

 

Another step for him to fully dominate the situation.

  
  


~*~

  
  


After getting Theresa on his side Stiles gave Peter another look, considering if he was going to be an issue but realising the man seemed to have no intention to disturb his work in any way. If anything the observing eyes watching him seemed to indicate the man was rather curious as to what Stiles would do next. Stiles was used to having to work with an audience, he just rarely considered his audience irritatingly attractive.

 

Still, that wasn’t relevant at the moment.

 

So he moved on to the most difficult person he had to calm down.

 

The deputy had stopped trying to find a way through Stiles’ magic and instead had stared at her wife while she had been telling her side of the story.

 

In general the fact she didn’t seem like a mindless rage-monster anymore was a good sign. 

 

He was far from trusting her to act civilly though.

 

“Deputy. Would you like to add your perspective to that story? Or would you agree with your wife’s narration of the events?”

 

The woman furrowed her brows, apparently trying to find out what she should do. “That...she didn’t...I mean-” her eyes switched from him to Theresa, to Peter and back to Theresa. 

 

“How could you...why...I...I never...I really didn’t...this!” she pointed back and forth between her and her wife “This isn’t fair! It’s not my fault!” frantically brushing her hair back she turned around and stared at the wall behind her, pulling at her hair, breathing heavily as if she was about to try to break out of Stiles’ cell again.

 

He cleared his throat and leaned a little bit forward as a gesture of approaching her, something she wouldn’t see but maybe subconsciously feel. “Melanie. No one has said any of this was your fault. Theresa didn’t, I didn’t and Dr. Hale didn’t. We all just want to find a solution. None of us want you to feel bad.”

 

The deputy’s shoulders lost some of their tension and Stiles took it as a sign to continue, flooding his voice with warm, mellow tones.  “This clearly is a horrible situation for you, but nothing will change if you won’t talk to us. It can only get worse if you keep us out. So, if you can and only when you are ready I would ask you to take some deep breaths, turn around to us and sit down. If you’ve done that, let’s try and talk. All at your own pace.”

 

For a few moments there was no reaction but then there was the audible noise of Melanie sucking in air and pushing it out rather forcefully.

 

She did that again and again while they were able to witness how her breathing became deeper and more relaxed, up to the point where her shoulders actually slumped down and she subconsciously let her head roll to both sides to lose the tension she had worked up.

Finally she turned around, facing them, not looking up to them even once but compliantly sitting down on the ground of the narrow space given to her.

 

When she had sat there for a few moments Stiles smiled mildly. “Good. I want to apologize for asking a conflicting question like that. Let’s start with something more simple instead. Do you want to hurt Theresa?”

 

The deputy’s head snapped up and there was an expression of horror and guilt on her face, it said all he ever needed to know but she still had to answer verbally to hear herself say it.

 

“No…” she mumbled and went back to staring into her lap.

 

Theresa next to him breathed out in relief, she apparently had held her breath when he had asked the question. No matter how much she seemed to have made her peace, she still cared about the outcome of all of this. As far as he could tell she might even still be in love with her wife.

 

“Okay. Do you want to hurt anybody else?”

 

“No…” this time she didn’t look up, but as long as she was talking to him all was good.

 

Great, now he only had to introduce the last step, the final agreement of every involved party to work together for everyone's good and the actual talk and it’s mediation.

 

“Very good. Now, look at us. We are, a social worker, your therapist and the woman who loves you. Every single one of us is here to help you.”

 

He looked at Theresa to see if she agreed with the way he phrased that and she gave him a small grateful smile.

 

Melanie on the other hand stared at Theresa, her brows furrowed and up, by now she looked a lot less like a dangerous alpha than a kicked puppy.

 

“Resy…”

 

Theresa stared back at the mess of a person.

 

When she spoke her voice was calm but her facade was cracking and the hurt and desperation was welling out of her. “You pushed me away Mel, not the other way around. I never said I stopped loving you. I just can’t keep living the way it is right now.”

 

Deputy Melanie Wallace started crying, her tears were silent, there was no noise.

“I love you. I’m so sorry. I just...I don’t know how to change. How to get back to...before...before all...that.”

 

To Stiles’ surprise Peter chose this moment to step in.

 

He made himself known by clearing his voice “If you both are up for it I could recommend you to an excellent couples therapist. She is one of the best in her field.”

 

Both nodded and Stiles felt like it was time for an optimistic smile.

 

The rest would be easy.

 

  
  
~*~

 

 

After everything was cleared up deputy Wallace was suspended indefinitely from duty but she and Theresa were walking side by side, Theresa comforting her with one hand on her back. They seemed to be talking about trying to spend some time together and calling the therapist, Peter had given them her name and number.

 

When Peter left the locker room in a borrowed white shirt and plain jeans he saw Stiles standing at one of the desks, apparently checking in with his father, who had been sent to the hospital. Judging by Stiles body language the sheriff was fine. When the call was finished Stiles had several people compliment him on handling the situation but he just smoothed over them by saying it was his job and what he was trained for.

 

Peter decided not to add himself to the list of people complimenting Stiles for “actually having balls” like one of the men had put it but instead wanted to go another route.

 

He knew Stiles hadn’t called him, he knew it probably meant the man had no desire to go out with him but he needed to actually know. He needed to make sure it wasn’t due to some misunderstanding or shyness or whatever.

 

So when most people had gone back to work Peter approached Stiles with a grin. “You are beautiful.”

 

The mage’s brows twitched in irritation over the compliment. “I simply did-”

 

“what you do. I know, that’s not what I meant though. I meant you. As a person, inward and outward, you are beautiful.”

 

This time Stiles blushed again, apparently a lot less confident the moment it was a compliment concerning him personally. “I...uhm...thank you?”

 

Peter chuckled “Are you asking me? It’s the simple truth, no need to thank me for it. You could however tell me why you never called. I understand if I’m not your type and I’ll accept that, no questions asked, but after today I am way too bewitched by you not to know for sure if that’s the case.”

 

Stiles face, a lot less controlled now than it had been back when he had been working 

turned from embarrassed to frightened to cautiously hopeful and insecure at the same time.

 

While he looked Peter up and down Peter could sense the change in Stiles scent as it turned from happy and exhausted to thrilled and definitely physically attracted.

 

“Actually...you are very much my type. I’m just...I’m probably not yours. I know you think you want me, I can sense that...but I’m nothing like most alphas.”

 

Somehow this assessment almost hurt Peter. “I never said I wanted someone who is like most alphas.”

 

Stiles blushed deeper, obviously able to feel Peter’s slight anger. “You said you need an alpha. I’m...I’m not...not ‘that’. I’m an alpha by name but pretty much nothing else.”

 

Oh dear, his anger and hurt evaporated.

 

This guy really was a bundle of insecurity wrapped up in bravado.

 

“What I saw in there was a lot more than an alpha by name.”

 

The younger man rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, I can play the part, I can use the right tools to act dominant and all. Still, I could never like...lead a pack or even a precinct.”

 

At this point Peter chuckled. “I’m pretty sure you could. You wanna know why?”

 

Actual curiosity sparked in Stiles’ mesmerizing amber eyes.

 

“Because most alpha’s couldn’t and like you said, you are not like most alphas.” He grinned smugly when he finished his sentence and was very satisfied when he got a shy but sincere smile and then even a giggle as a result.

 

“Oh man, that was awful. Like really really cheesy.”

 

“It made you laugh, that’s what I care about. But back on topic. So the only reason you didn’t call me was because you thought I couldn’t possibly want you, the way you are?”

 

Stiles started to nibble on his lower lip and nodded.

 

“Well then, let’s clear this up. I have very little interest in most alphas. In fact so little interest the last time I dated or even fucked an alpha was in high school. I do, however, have a huge interest in you, Stiles. And I would love it if you would agree to go out with me.”

 

The nibble turned into a half smile and his frame loosened as he visibly relaxed after coming to a decision. “Okay. Yes, let’s do that. Just...don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

Peter chuckled again. “Wouldn’t dream of it. So when do you get off from work?”

 

“Uh...my shift actually ended before I even arrived here. I already called my supervisor to tell her how it went so...I guess right now.”

 

Perfect. Peter showed another grin, a more wolfish one this time. “So...how does a burger and fries sound to you?”

 

“Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! If you read this far please know I love you and am imensely grateful you took the time to do so! Thank you so much :3  
> Again, I'd be happy to read your feedback and will celebrate every note I get :3


	3. Board Extravaganza

They drove together in Peter’s car since Stiles’ home was closer to the police station than Peter’s. While houses and people rushed past them they made small talk. Peter had asked about the sheriff being Stiles’ father, Stiles had talked a while about the benefits and pet peeves of being the sheriff’s son and then went on to asking Peter about his family.

 

The werewolf kept it light and factual for the most part, talking about his alpha sister, his two alpha nieces and omega nephew. For a while he told some stories about them and their typical teenage antics.

 

They arrived at the diner before they even realized it. Once inside they ordered their food and Peter could see just how much the mage seemed to need something to eat because he seemed impatient and a bit distracted for the next few minutes until their food arrived and he basically burrowed his face into it.

 

Something about watching Stiles eat so enthusiastically was only adding to his charm. The moment he realised Peter was watching him and only occasionally eating a fry and sipping his coke Stiles froze and smiled apologetically. “Sowwy. Ushing shrong madshic bwurwnsh lots ow enashy.”

 

“I understand, and I really don’t mind. Although I do feel like you should try to be less insecure. I almost wish to discipline you for apologizing just for being obviously hungry. We are in a diner, not a pristine restaurant.”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Stiles swallowed hard and realized his heart had skipped a beat at the mention of disciplining. He wasn’t sure he understood right but if he did this was becoming far more interesting than he had hoped it would.

 

He still had his reservations about the man, still doubted they were an actual fit, also still doubted he knew the entirety of Peter’s intentions. But if Peter meant what Stiles thought he meant it was another thing they had in common - a rather important thing at that.

 

“Uh...would you care to...elaborate on that? What kind of disciplining measures were you thinking about?”

 

The werewolf only raised one eyebrow and smirked before explaining further. “I would, for example, spank you until you promised to try and be more confident in yourself, especially towards me. I told you I am interested in you, I told you I consider you beautiful, not only in your appearance but in your personality and I asked you out on a date, twice. There is no need to be concerned I might change my mind all that fast.”

 

So Stiles had not misunderstood Peter.

 

Knowing the therapist shared Stiles’ interest in kinky play made him even more attractive in Stiles’ eyes.

 

At the same time though it also added to another part of what Stiles already considered a confusingly perfect partner. One might even say an unrealistically perfect partner.

 

Obviously it might just be the fact they only met each other recently and maybe this weird sensation of having a crush on someone would fade with enough time but it wasn’t only that. He was convinced he wasn’t just suspicious of his own emotions, although he had every right to be considering he hadn’t been sure he even was able to have a crush on anybody since Lydia Martin in high school.

 

No, there was more, Stiles actually felt something twist inside him as Peter spoke this time. Something about how convinced Peter was Stiles couldn’t discourage him just didn’t sit right with the young mage.

 

He liked the idea, the overall look of what Peter was offering, of what he seemed to mean. But people didn’t usually reassure him like this on their own, certainly not that early in their interaction. Obviously it could simply be the fact Peter was a therapist, he had experience in reading people and understanding what they needed but still.

 

Somehow it felt like there was a part he didn’t fully get, some motivation for Peter to be so adamant on making Stiles feel wanted.

 

Before hurting his head trying to figure this out on his own he eventually decided to mention the feeling and see where that would lead him.

 

Having made a decision he felt somewhat calmer and he sighed with resolution.

 

After taking a few gulps from his own soda he intertwined his fingers and gave Peter a more sincere look. “That sounds really nice. Generally you seem great, partly you sound and seem like a fucking dream. But all that adds to this weird suspicion there might be something you aren’t telling me. For example, you said you ‘needed’ an alpha, not wanted one. You made that even clearer by mentioning you haven’t been with an alpha in ages and aren’t generally interested in them. Are you trying to win me over for something? Something requiring a technical alpha but not necessarily a conventional one? Because if there is anything you think might cause this suspicion in me, please tell me now. It will save both of us from possible pain.”

 

Peter seemed to be surprised by his words but also seemed to think about the request.

 

Maybe he was trying to find out what might have sparked Stiles’ suspicion or maybe he was weighing on whether or not to tell Stiles something he had intentionally not mentioned so far.

 

Stiles wasn’t sure which one it was but he felt he got his answer when the young therapist finally spoke again. “I meant what I said. You are beautiful and you are impressive. But you are right, I had another motive for finding an alpha.

 

There is a man, a werewolf alpha, actually the president of the werewolf council. He is special because his pack is entirely created of other alphas, a few of them are even part of the council as well. He was keen on making me his omega when I was younger. I assumed he had lost his interest when I grew older but apparently he didn’t. Last time my sister met him he showed unbroken interest in my situation as a bachelor omega. He has non-consensually claimed omegas before, so have his alphas. I know it’s technically illegal but it’s not like anyone could do much about him. He has all the power and a claim being non-consensual isn’t something you can prove. So my sister decided I needed to find myself an alpha, someone who would pose an obstacle if Deucalion ever actually tried to claim me.”

 

Stiles could see Peter’s fear and anger about the circumstances, he could feel them.

 

Just like he was sad and angry himself.

 

Non-consensual claiming really was something his bureau was struggling with quite often and while it did happen accidentally from time to time more often than not it was an act of forced physical and emotional obedience. It wasn’t called that way all that often but in all accounts it was rape of the mind and body of an omega. At least that was the way Stiles looked at it and judging by Peter’s emotional response to the topic he had a similar opinion.

 

This wasn’t the only reason he was sad and angry though.

 

He fully understood why Peter had decided to find himself an alpha. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t at least a little bit disappointed it had to be him. He understood why Peter would choose him of course. As a unconventional and rather mellow alpha, lacking all the desire to force something on a person they didn’t want while having a clear savior complex Stiles was the perfect person. He felt actually hurt. They didn’t know each other, just met the second time at all and still, it hurt to realize what Peter had chosen him for. On the other hand though, this was a person in need and it wasn’t just his job to help people like Peter, it was his passion as well. Besides, he still liked the man and although he started to distance himself from the idea of dating Peter since he would be exploiting the man’s misery there still was the general wish to get to know him, maybe even become friends.

 

It took only a few minutes and Stiles had made his decision.

 

He had to help Peter, but he wouldn’t let his emotions get intertwined with that.

 

After he knew what exactly he wanted to say he breathed in deep and let the air rush out between his lips before looking up into the werewolf’s face.

 

“That’s a terrible situation to be in. I’m really sorry for you Peter. However...I have no intention to enter into a fake relationship. Meaning, this won’t work out. You are smart and hot and all kinds of intriguing, but this is just not what I’m about.”

 

By Peter’s facial expression you could see him losing hope, losing faith in Stiles being the one to save him from this bleak fate. Recognizing the emotion Stiles continued and made his intentions as clear as possible. “Since that makes us technically uninvolved with each other though, I can actually take your case. I’m not on the clock right now so I could obviously pretend you didn’t tell me about a powerful group of supernatural alphas non-consensually claiming people but I’m sure you understand why that’s just not really an option for me.”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Yes Peter understood.

 

He had considered all the options when Stiles had asked him so directly to tell him if there were other motives besides Stiles’ attractiveness to court him.

 

Obviously Peter could have lied, made something up, given Stiles some simple reason for his suspicions and putting them to rest that way.

 

Lying to Stiles though…

 

He felt weirdly uncomfortable about the mere idea of doing that.

 

He had hoped for sympathy and for Stiles to just brush it aside and let them go on with their date. It was one of the most unlikely outcomes though.

 

Peter’s worst fear had been for Stiles to be enraged and hurt about Peter keeping this motivation from him and just leaving right then. Also a rather unlikely outcome.

 

Stiles was way too compassionate to just walk away from someone in Peter’s situation.

While Stiles’ actual reaction had been one of the possibilities Peter had considered more likely he still was surprised at the sensation of loss he experienced when Stiles straight up told him they weren’t going to work as a couple.

 

He had a lot of respect and admiration for this man, for his character, but he also felt very drawn to him in a romantic and sexual sense.

 

Listening to the mage’s words, understanding his decision, understanding he would never be able to hold Stiles in his arms or anything even beyond that shattered some soft hope and desire which had blossomed in this short time.

 

He was actually quite confused by the sincerity and intensity of the sensation.

 

At the same time he appreciated Stiles still trying to help.

 

It was in vain since the non-consensual aspect of a claim was impossible to prove after the initial claim but still, it was the gesture of a truly good person.

 

Devastated or not, he guessed Stiles at least deserved to know Peter was grateful for that. “There is nothing much you can do besides acting as my alpha mate, but I’m still thankful, sincerely thankful for your offer.”

 

~*~

 

Looking at Peter, opening his sixth sense to the man’s state of mind and realizing just how desolate it was felt awful. If he had only heard what Peter said Stiles might have thought Peter simply didn’t want his help but this was deeper. He couldn’t actually read minds or even distinguish between different reasons for emotions so there wasn’t a way to be sure about it but Stiles felt confident enough to assume Peter felt that way because he really did consider all hope lost. The man was convinced there was nothing Stiles could do.

 

Stiles wasn’t necessarily surprised per se, but he would have thought a therapist working for the government might have heard of developments in such topics.

 

Apparently he was wrong. They should really try to find a better way to distribute that information. “Peter. You need to know, there are ways to prove a non-consensual claim. There has been for a few years now. There is even a way to reverse it. The spells and potions required for it are very difficult and costly in terms of time, but it has been done before. The bigger issue is to get a judge to sign a warrant to test suspected victims since they can’t be expected to agree on their own while under the influence of their abuser. Witnesses are by far the best way to get one. But since claiming, especially non-consensual claiming is ingrained in some supernatural cultures it is really hard to find people willing to testify. You might be right, I can’t protect you unless I become your mate. But I can help you protect yourself by showing you a way to lock this man and his people up for a very long time.”

 

Stiles had hoped this approach would make Peter more willing to consider his offer to help him against those people. But instead of sensing relief the most intense emotion Stiles felt coming from Peter was desperation and some slight anger. But when he spoke his voice was calm and leveled. “Don’t give me any of that ‘help me to help you help yourself’ bullshit Stiles. I’m hardly a reliable witness, I haven’t seen Deucalion in years. The real witness you’d need is my sister and she has a pack, she has mates and kids. I could never subject her to that kind of danger. We aren’t talking about some kind of rapey gang, we are talking about the highest ranking authority in werewolf society. I know they technically aren’t superior to the general government but do you really think they don’t have all kinds of connections keeping them safe? If it was only my life I’d put in jeopardy I wouldn’t think twice about giving you the little I know but this could fall back on Talia way too easily. So okay, claims can be proven illegal, great, I’m glad they can be, but it doesn’t change a thing. Unless you would be willing to become my mate there is nothing you can do. And I wouldn’t want you to become my mate just out of some sense of obligation to help me either. I was really glad to meet you. I still am, because you are gorgeous, and pretty much the first person -not just the first alpha- I could ever imagine committing myself to, but I can’t expect that emotion to be reciprocated. So I guess we can just go our separate ways from here on.”

 

Before Stiles really knew what to say the man stood up, opened his wallet, put some money on the table and left the diner.

 

A sudden feeling like Stiles had accidentally activated a trap door and dropped into a basement overcame him and he could only once again stare at the werewolf as he was leaving him behind.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Peter drove around for quite a while.

 

There was some regret in him. Maybe Stiles would have had something better to say after hearing Peter’s thoughts in their entirety. Maybe not.

 

He probably should have dropped the younger man off at his flat instead of leaving him in that diner. The money he left certainly was enough to get a cab or an uber.

 

Still, Stiles had done nothing wrong. If anything it had been Peter who hadn’t been honest enough from the beginning. He couldn’t blame Stiles for not seeing the entire picture. In all honesty, he himself wasn’t able to see it either, he was too emotionally involved for that.

 

All he knew was what wouldn’t work. It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about going to the police when he had been younger.

 

He had been shielded by his parents mostly but for a while Deucalion had felt like a very real threat to his freedom. Some might even say the man was part of why Peter valued his independence so much in the first place. Deucalion making advances at him had forced Peter to learn about claiming and what it meant fast and early.

 

It was a custom he considered borderline immoral even when practiced consensually. The idea, the mere thought of allowing someone to supernaturally bind you to them, make you obedient to their will, it made him almost nauseous. It could be difficult enough to obey the alpha of your pack for the peace of the group. But at least he was allowed to have his own opinion and voice his true thoughts on it.

 

As far as he was concerned a claimed person basically became a prisoner in their own mind.

 

He had met some claimed people. Most of whom he actually suspected had been claimed under at least dubious circumstances. There was no actual need for claiming in the supernatural sense. While some kinds of creatures had the tendency to claim their partners like werewolves did by scenting and marking them it wasn’t the same as branding an omega as yours and binding them to you for the rest of your life.

 

Some of the claimed omegas he had met seemed just like a normal person, except for the fact they were very attentive to their alpha’s needs and demands. Others though…

 

Some of them seemed like little more than the shell of a person.

 

It was something actually visible to someone like him.

 

Looking at their auras it had been clear to see something was wrong. While every claimed person shared a visible link to the one who claimed them those who seemed to visibly suffer due to their state were fully engulfed in their claimer’s aura. Some to the point where it was impossible to say what their own aura had even looked like.

 

Gripping the steering wheel tighter Peter slammed on the accelerator and kept driving around aimlessly, hoping to find some solution or at least some peace.

 

At some point he probably would just have to accept going back to dating some of those alphas the matchmaker had sent him. So far all of them had been fails in his opinion.

 

Maybe though, that assessment wasn’t fair, considering Peter had someone to compare them with, someone who only got harder to exceed after today’s encounter.

  
  


~*~

  
  


After Peter left Stiles hat sat there for a while longer.

 

When the waitress came he had just handed her all the money although he realised it had been enough to pay the food and still get a taxi. He felt walking in the cold air of the night might be what he needed to clear his head.

 

And just like he had hoped, when he reached his own place he knew what needed to be done next. Not wasting anymore time he brewed some tea with energizing herbs and got to work. There was a lot of research to be done.

 

The information Peter had given him was a good place to start.

  
  


~*~

  
  


It was five days later when Stiles’ doorbell rang and he emerged from his chaotic sphere of work that had become his living room.

 

When he opened the door a tired smile appeared on his face.

 

“Scotty...come to check in on me?”

 

His best friend gave him the trademark crooked smile and walked past Stiles into the flat.

 

“Your dad asked me to come by after work to make sure you haven’t died.”

 

Stiles watched as Scott inspected his work.

 

As he had done often before when a topic captured his intense interest Stiles had used drawing boards and pin boards to organize his information and processes on that topic. He kept those boards exactly for that reason.

 

“I answered everyone’s texts, dad’s, your’s, Lydia’s and Danny’s...I just took a few vacation days, that’s all.”

 

A snort from the kind hearted beta told Stiles Scott didn’t buy it. “Vacation days...dude, you reek, you look like you haven’t slept or eaten in days and while I am used to your board extravaganza even I can see this is...big.”

 

Sniffing his shirt Stiles had to agree. The fact he didn’t fully remember when he showered last wasn’t a good sign either and just as Scott gave him a poignant look his stomach rumbled and clenched.

 

“I guess…” he mumbled and rubbed at his neck.

 

Scott sighed and put one hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “How about you go take a shower and change your clothes while I see what food you have left and get some of it in you before we sit down and you fill me in on this new obsession.”

 

He huffed but already knew his friend was right. “Okay...Mom.”

  
  


Half an hour later they were sitting in the living room, Stiles was munching on a sandwich Scott somehow created out of the stuff Stiles had had left in the fridge and the Beta was studying Stiles’ boards.

 

“So this guy here...Deucalion, you want to what...arrest him?”

 

Stiles nodded while chewing and then swallowing to be able to explain further. “He’s the president of the werewolf council. First I thought he only claimed people against their will. Honestly, if it were only that it’d be disgusting enough. But the truth somehow is worse. I have found several indicators he is involved in a lot of different criminal activities. Really...make it drugs, weapons, kills for hire, prostitution, bribery, kidnappings or even slave trafficking...he has at least a pinky in the business. Believe me, my research has got me places I really didn’t wanna go. I’ve seen and read some disturbing things the last few days.”

 

His friend only nodded and followed some lines Stiles had drawn on the board. “And these people? Kali, The Twins...The Bloodwitch? I guess they are Deucalion’s people then…”

 

“Well yes. But also, Kali and this guy” he pointed at a picture of a huge bald guy “they are council members. That’s why I put their full names below the names they seem to go by. The Twins are...strange and The Bloodwitch is what this person is called as far as i can tell but I don’t really know who she or he is. I assume it’s Deucalion’s druid but i can’t say for sure.”

 

Scott breathed in and out slowly after staring at the question mark where the picture of the Bloodwitch was missing. “So why not arrest Deucalion then? Or rather let your dad arrest him, in case you forgot you aren’t actually a cop.”

 

That was the essential point, wasn’t it?

 

Stiles had searched day after day for a possible way to get to that guy without pushing Peter and his family to put themselves in danger by talking. “There isn’t a shred of actual evidence that’d hold up in court. The only way to get to Deucalion as far as I can tell are the Hales. I did however only start this board extravaganza -as you call it- in the first place to find a way to avoid that. So...yeah I guess you could say I’m stuck.”

 

Stiles didn’t expect the snort he got as a reaction from Scott. “I can’t believe all this originated from a guy walking out on you.”

 

Although phrasing it that way did hurt the mage’s ego he ignored it to the benefit of an actual response. “It originated from said guy telling me he was afraid of being mind-raped but the way you put it is so much more fun, I see why you went with it.”

 

“Dude, no need to be butthurt. I just meant, I haven’t seen you so focused on something for someone specific for years. Not since you retired your ten year plan to make Lydia fall in love with you. All your bigger things since then were born out of your own curiosity, not a person.”

 

Yet again Stiles was aware Scott had a point, but he felt finding a way to Deucalion was more important than thinking about why he was making such an effort not to inconvenience Peter and his family. He stared at the walls filled with fragments of information himself, absentmindedly nibbling on the ribbon of the hoodie he had put on after the shower.

Thinking about it, Peter had said he had no issue putting himself in danger, it was his sister’s family he wanted to protect.

 

“I could try to get evidence by infiltrating them.”

 

“No.” It was a simple syllable with a lot of determination and a definite shake of the head. “You are not getting undercover in a rapey trafficking drug ring werewolf group thing!”

 

“-council…”

 

“Werewolf council thing, whatever!”

 

Stiles sighed and pushed a few loose pieces of paper aside to sit down on his couch. “Yeah you’re right, I won’t.”

 

The incredulous look Scott gave him made clear his friend didn’t believe him even a little bit.

 

“Not because of your strict objection, don’t be ridiculous. I meant, I won’t because the only way this could actually work out was if I had someone to guide me through that social environment, someone to introduce and connect me. The only person fitting that criteria is Peter. The only way I could put Peter in that position without loathing myself for the rest of my life would be if I could make sure he wouldn’t be endangered to be claimed. The only way to ensure that would be to become his mate and while he was quite eager for me to do so at some point he made it very clear he didn’t want me to do it just because I felt obligated to...so since that’s not gonna happen there won’t be any infiltrating, so don’t worry, no dangerous stunts to pull for me.”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Stiles had talked a bit fast but Scott had years of experience to understand him even when the mage was ranting on and on about something, becoming less and less coherent the more his mind went into the thought process so this was nothing he couldn’t handle.

 

While he still didn’t like the idea of his friend trying to investigate some criminals though Scott couldn’t help but feel like this whole mate thing was an issue which still needed to be addressed.

 

So he grabbed the papers Stiles had shoved aside and put them gently down on the floor in one of the few free spots so he could sit down next to his best friend. “Look, Stiles, this sounds like the kind of emotional complication I tend to get hung up on. So speaking from experience, what exactly did he say? I mean, if he doesn’t want you to become his mate because you feel obligated, did he say in what situation he would like you to be his mate? I mean, maybe it’s just boring, old fashioned, dynamic-compliant and heteronormative old me speaking, but isn’t it a bit early to talk about becoming mates at all? Obviously you are very, very invested in his life, for more than one reason but still…”

 

Stiles first response was just a weak shake of the head. “I...this got weird and complicated real quick...Peter fears Deucalion might try to claim him, that’s the only reason he went to the matchmaker in the first place. He said he would...I’m actually not sure what exactly he said but the gist of it was, he liked me enough to be able to imagine becoming my mate but he didn’t want me to become it out of obligation to help him...I don’t know...it just felt like I somehow put him off to the point where he didn’t even want my help at all. So I decided not to just go after him and apologize but to try and find a way to solve his initial problem so we could maybe, I don’t know, try this date thing again but without impending doom forcing him to maybe do something he doesn’t really want to…”

 

The Beta felt the strong urge to facepalm himself or Stiles. “You are overthinking this way too much and also, I can’t believe you were able to say that sentence without realizing what an idiot you are.”

 

Stiles made a face at Scott and scoffed. “Scott McCall calling me an idiot, great.”

 

Scott actually bumped his palm onto Stiles’ forehead at that comment. “Yes, just imagine. Don’t get defensively offensive about it. Just try to think about what Peter told you and ignore that stupid voice in your head telling you he can’t like you for who you are. Maybe imagine he told you about some guy he met and not you.

 

He said his freedom depends on finding a mate. And he likes you enough to actually imagine becoming mates with you. But he doesn’t want YOU to become his mate out of obligation. Now go ahead, try to tell me this doesn’t mean he’d rather face that Duke-guy unprotected than force you into an intimate bond unless you are emotionally committed to it and actually want to be with him. You were on one goddamn date. I would say the issue certainly isn’t him not wanting your help. I would say the issue is you being too focused on how unlovable you are to realize Peter decided he liked you too much to use you.

 

Also, just as a side note, I’ve met Peter Hale before. Not that I saw or heard much but he certainly liked to emotionally manipulate people so let’s just say he must like you quite a bit to restrain himself. I’m actually getting curious what you did to him…”

  
  


~*~

  
  


Weirdly enough Scott’s little intervention helped Stiles realize what a gigantic blind spot he had had when it came to interpreting Peter’s words. He hated his insecurity and anxiety sometimes. And he loved Scott for knowing him well enough to realize that was the issue.

 

“You are right. All I really need to do is go to Peter and ask him if he would be okay with me helping him if I would become his mate and then apologize a hundred times for being a dick about it. I mean, mating doesn’t have to be forever, but if everything goes well he won’t realize I’m garbage until we got Deucalion locked up and by then he will probably break up with me but I won’t have forced him into being with me just to infiltrate the alpha pack.”

 

Scott’s face went pale. “No, Stiles! No!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year Everybody!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am so grateful to everyone who has read it, thank you so much <3  
> If you like leave a comment and kudos and if you have any thoughts on the development feel free to give constructive feedback :3  
> I wish you all for 2017 to be a much better year than the last!  
> Also, I got kind of confused with the capitalization rules of the english (English?) laguage in this chapter, please forgive me for any mistakes...


	4. The plan. The plan for Peter, the plan chosen especially to persuade Peter...

Peter breathed in and out through his nose, as slow and calm as possible. He was somewhat annoyed by this patient. The guy had been his patient for several weeks now but still couldn’t see the actual cause of his issues. Sadly it was one of those incidents where you couldn’t just tell someone the answer. It was one of those situations where the person had to realize the solution for themselves.

 

If it was just some random stranger or acquaintance Peter would have been able to zone out and later apologize for not really listening. With a patient though this wasn’t really an option. So he made an effort to seem engaged in the story and the excuses the guy always used so as not to confront his actual problem.

 

Allowing himself a glance at his watch Peter felt relief because the time was almost up and he would be able to get out of here for his much needed dinner.

 

“Nathan, let me stop you there because we are almost done for today. I understand you are not sure how to approach your anxiety attacks when it comes to those kinds of situations, but let me give you another task for the next week. I want you to make two lists for me. One list about the people around you when this happens, including what other people in your life they might remind you of. And another list with all the attributes of a person that triggers this kind of attack, separate from the people causing the attacks. Do you feel comfortable with these two assignments?”

 

The tall and bulky man pressed his lips together and breathed in and out as if he was bracing himself against something. “Yes I...I think I can do that.”

 

This man was probably going to end up with a more long term therapist than Peter. They had another three sessions scheduled but if there wasn’t a breakthrough by then he would have to refer the poor guy to someone else and refuse his approval of reinstating him as an officer in the field until further improvement on his mental health would be made.

 

“Good. Let’s wrap this up then.”

 

Peter stood up first and Nathan followed.

 

They shook hands and Peter opened the door, watching as the suspended officer left the room.

 

“You have a nice day Dr. Hale.”

 

“You too Nathan.”

 

He looked after Nathan until the man had passed the front desk and wished Deborah a nice day as well. When he went back into his office to get his things and head off to his favorite italian place though there was a knock on his open door.

 

“Dr. Hale, there is someone else who wants to see you. He says he isn’t here for a treatment but refuses to say anything else. He says his name is Stiles Stilinski.”

 

Peter’s heart skipped a beat and it annoyed him.

 

He barely knew the guy, he wasn’t supposed to be so excited to hear that name, especially considering the way they had parted ways last time.

 

No really, having the guy you walked out on come by your work place wasn’t something he was supposed to get excited about at all.

 

But here he stood, at his desk, hearing that name and his first reaction was excitement and the thought of having an excuse to be in the same room as Stiles once more. Just in this moment he felt like Stiles scent, the sound of his voice and the impression of his shimmering aura were as vivid and intoxicating in his memory as they had been when they had met for the first time.

 

He nodded, putting on his poker face and taking a seat behind his desk as Deborah went to tell Stiles to come in now.

 

Somehow when the mage actually entered the room, wearing a simple gray shirt, red hoodie, khakis and worn out sneakers while carrying something that looked like a bunch of rolled up posters and a heavy folder he actually was more stunning than in Peter’s memory after all.

 

Peter hadn’t known how annoyed he could be with being attracted to someone, but he was. Annoyed by his feelings or not though, the folder and the posters made him even more curious than he had been when he had only heard the name. His first assumption, that Stiles might have come by to unnecessarily apologize for ruffling Peter’s feathers, seemed to prove wrong.

 

“Stiles. You look like you are about to apply for a job.”

  
  
  


Stiles blushed, he could feel it, the burning heat in his cheeks but he swallowed and tried to concentrate on his undertaking. A difficult task considering Peter’s gaze was once more fixed on him and it provoked all kinds of conflicting emotions in him. The strongest of those being anxiety and agitation mixed with a weird sense of joy and arousal.

 

He tried to contain those emotions as best as he could and smiled with as much faux confidence as he could muster, leaning into the door frame. 

 

“Hi Peter. I uhm...I guess you could say I am. I would like to, you know, apply for the position of your mate.” Making a step into the room Stiles hastily continued before Peter could really react to these words. “And before you dismiss me out of hand because I didn’t go for it when you proposed it, please let me explain to you exactly why I came here. We might not know each other that well, but I just feel..and I think...I just hope you might see our situation the same way I do and...and accept my proposal.”

 

Smooth Stiles, really smooth.

 

This situation had started somewhat different when Stiles had played it through in his head, but at least he had said his introductory sentences and wasn’t being kicked out the door immediately. His knees were a little weak; it had taken a lot to actually go through with this, a lot of one part of his brain convincing the other part that this had a chance of success.

Faking confidence and exuding dominance was so much easier, so much more natural when the issue had nothing to do with his own vulnerability. How he turned out an alpha would probably always be a mystery to him and most of the world.

  
  


Yet again Peter was impressed.

 

At the Diner he had been able to get a glimpse at how deep Stiles’ insecurities were running. Seeing Stiles here now, seeing his flush, hearing him speak, hearing his accelerated breathing, witnessing the struggle of proposing his idea, the fear of being rejected. It showed courage, again Stiles was proving why he was an alpha. Facing difficult situations no matter how much they might weigh on your mind wasn’t something everybody was willing or even able to do.

 

It wasn’t only an alpha specific quality but it was a good and important one to have to become an actual leader. Peter had no real ambition to lead people. Obviously, if everybody else seemed to be certain failures he wouldn’t shy away from taking the wheel, but he wasn’t actually any good, he knew that. He was even the first to admit he would do a lot of things to avoid uncomfortable confrontations. After all, he had been willing to mate some alpha stranger to avoid having to deal with Deucalion.

 

Besides the fact Peter was pretty damn curious what Stiles had in store for him he also felt like Stiles had earned the right to be heard after finding the courage to come here in the first place.

 

“All right, sit down, let’s see if this proposal is any good.”

  
  


Stiles followed the order pretty quickly. While Peter would have liked to think it was because the young man felt a need to obey him he considered it more likely that Stiles was nervous and appreciated the opportunity to sit down.

 

Taking a deep breath Stiles rested the folder and posters next to him on the chair he had sat down in. “This is all I was able to find. Everything on Deucalion and his people. It’s circumstantial evidence at best. But it’s a start.”

 

Stiles scratched his chin and looked up from his papers to Peter. “A friend...you might actually know him, his name is Scott McCall...uh...doesn’t matter really. Anyway, he helped me see what you said in another light. So first off, I would like to apologize. I assumed you were only going out with me because I was the most convenient alpha for the solution to your problem. I was wrong, assuming those things was wrong. According to Scott the things you said and the fact you left and distanced yourself from making me your mate are indicators you actually like me. After he told me how he interpreted your words I felt like I knew what he meant. So since I like you too...there isn’t really anything keeping us from becoming mates. Obviously unless Scott was wrong and I was wrong, which would make this conversation even more awkward than it already is. In case you do like me though I already thought of a way we can prove that to each other, just in case that was your next question. If not I’m just digging my own hole deeper. I think I’ll shut up now.”

  
  
  
  


Scott McCall? It wasn’t like Peter actually knew the guy all that well, but if he remembered it right Stiles’ friend was helping out at his sister’s pack’s druid’s veterinary clinic.

 

It was somewhat hard to picture them as friends, but there were odder pairings in the world he supposed. Also maybe he was a bit biased because he had always judged that Scott guy to be a doormat. Stiles on the other hand certainly wasn’t.

 

Whatever his deal was though, Peter would have to thank him at some point for setting Stiles back on track. Especially considering how Peter hadn’t been all that charming in Scott’s company.

 

Pushing further thoughts on that social connection aside to be contemplated later Peter’s gaze on the young man in front of him intensified.

 

While his conscience was reluctant to buy into the offer his subconscious and body were betraying him by giving him all signs of hope and relief. For the most part though he stayed cautious.

 

“I do like you too Stiles. But I haven’t changed my mind about endangering my sister. It’s easy enough to see what you want to do. You intend to offer me the protection of mating with you in exchange for helping you bring down Deucalion. I’m sorry, but no matter how safe you can get me, it’s about their safety and you can’t guarantee that.”

 

His words were harsh, yes, but in his opinion this was easier than beating around the bush about his thoughts.

 

He wouldn’t forgive himself if he let Stiles get close enough to make Peter actually start caring about disappointing him. Because while he was still irritated by how much he even already cared about the guy he couldn’t deny that he did care about Stiles.

 

It stood to reason to believe these feelings would only get stronger if they mated and pretended to be in a serious relationship.

  
  
  


Stiles had expected to experience some resistance to his initial proposal and had told himself a thousand times not to give up because of one blow. He would need to show Peter the entire beauty of his plan.

 

“I would have been disappointed if you did change your mind. Luckily though I found a way to let you help me with this while all the blame would fall on me. They would have no reason to try and get leverage on you. I know, that’s a lot to promise but you will see I’m not lying if you let me explain further.”

 

Peter didn’t say anything and it made Stiles slightly nervous but he did make a gesture signaling Stiles to continue. So he did by putting the folder and the posters on Peter’s desk and opening the first poster. It contained all the known members of Deucalion’s pack and their connections to each other as far as Stiles had been able to find out about them.

 

“I have more about most of these people in the folder, but I added the most important information about them below their pictures. This Bloodwitch is a different thing, but that’s not important for now. I am sure you can see how they’ve built their hierarchy. Obviously we need to get access to the sub-alphas’ ranks to get a chance at admissible and undeniable evidence. The easiest way to do so should be approaching one of the weaker sub-alpha’s packs, introducing ourselves as business partners or something like that. I have an idea who might be best for that, but more on that later. I have no doubt we will be able to make it seem beneficial for them to let us join. After that it’s only a question of winning their trust and becoming seemingly indispensable to them.”

 

Peter raised two fingers of his hand almost lazily, indicating he wanted to say something.

 

Stiles stopped and fidgeted a bit with his hands. “Y...yeah?”

 

“I still don’t see how this would protect my sister and her pack. Especially considering most of the sub-alphas as you call them know what I look like and who I am. Or did you forget the part where Deucalion used to try and make me his bitch? I’m pretty sure they are all aware of that. The twins maybe not, I never got introduced to them, but Ennis and Kali certainly would still recognize me…”

 

As Peter mentioned Deucalion trying to make him his ‘bitch’ Stiles was able to sense how deep that experience still bothered the man.

 

“You are right, let me cut to the point then. I didn’t forget about it, it actually might be the most important reason why I think this could work. We will actually stay fairly close to the truth. When someone asks we will say we met at the matchmaker. You will be yourself and I will be myself, just not quite the versions of reality. At our first date you told me all about your fear of being forcefully claimed by Deucalion. I showed sympathy and told you I had no issue protecting you, I even talked you into coming back to my place so we would be able to get to know each other better. If you want we can phrase it as if I made clear you’d have to sleep with me to get my protection, whatever you feel will seem most realistic. Once at my place I drugged and then claimed you. After the claim and thus the reveal of my true evil nature I ordered you to tell me all about that Deucalion guy and decided it sounded like a gig I wanted to become a part of. And that will be why we are there. Because of me. Your family has nothing to do with it and threatening them would obviously have no effect on someone who had no problem non-consensually claiming a person. Why would evil Stiles give a shit about claimed Peter’s sister’s kids. All we need to do is act accordingly, meaning I will have to pretend to be an asshole and you will have to pretend you are in absolute obedience to me.”

 

He had spoken fast, partly because he was excited about his plan because he really felt like it could work and partly because he somehow felt like getting it over with might make it less resentful as an idea. Peter probably hated the prospect of acting like he had been claimed after trying to escape it for so long. He was probably starting to resent Stiles about now, for pitching this plan in the first place.

 

“I know it’s...not a comfortable idea. But you said you would be willing to put yourself in danger, just not your family and this would take care of it. It might actually even make them more secure than they are right now. After all, at the moment Deucalion could try to get to you through them too. Although I’m not even sure he really still wants to claim you. I think he might just have implied it to your sister because he wanted to see if he can still scare your pack with it. All I could find about him suggests he is a pretty fucked up sadist who likes to play games. So, as a conclusion; I would like to become your mate if you are still interested. Unrelated to whether or not we will become mates I will try to find a way to put Deucalion behind bars and I deeply hope for you to join me. But I will try either way.”

  
  
  


Peter was even more impressed now. For several reasons.

 

The plan itself wasn’t bad, although still a bit raw.

 

Proposing the plan was another reason, after all it was risky and more than just a little daring to pull that kind of deception off.

 

But the most important reason was just how little Stiles apparently had to think about putting his own life on the line to bring a bad person to justice.

 

It made him wish he was that fierce and determined.

 

Sure he would risk his own life to bring down Deucalion but that shit was personal, he was pretty sure he’d think at least twice about fighting some random powerful criminal who wasn’t actively threatening him or what he held dear.

 

It was a rare and admirable personality trait.

 

Sighing loudly and tweaking the bridge of his nose Peter looked at the faces again to give himself a bit longer to process all this and come to a conclusion.

 

It felt a lot like Stiles wasn’t really leaving him a choice. Either Peter could protect himself emotionally against whatever was developing between them by staying out of this, letting Stiles take his chances on his own. Or he could agree for them to become mates and join Stiles’ newly found agenda. Because saying yes to becoming mates but staying out if the fight against Deucalion wasn’t something he considered a legit option.

 

After mulling it over a few more times he decided he needed a bit more information still before he knew enough to choose.

 

“What about your family? They might still try to get to you through them. Deucalion might be quite furious with the idea of some little mage claiming me. What if he decides to have you killed? Also, you can recognize claiming bonds when you can see auras, if anyone there is able to do so they will know we are lying.”

  
  
  
  


While Stiles had thought about the first part Peter’s second objection was news to him. Mostly because while aura reading was a skill almost all species could learn there were very few people with a natural talent for it.

 

“Pretty much my only family is my Dad and he is the Sheriff so he is fairly safe I’d say. I have a best friend but I think they won’t necessarily look for something like that. Plus, his father is an FBI Agent...the thing with the aura might be a problem though. I could obviously try to find out if there is some kind of spell to manipulate the appearance of your aura, but otherwise I guess we could always just say I used a marionette-hex on you because it’s more difficult to track than claiming or something like that...either way I don’t think those are the things we should let hold us back.”

 

He actually felt some kind of hope coming from Peter. It was hesitant,  but it was there and the sensation gave Stiles more confidence.

 

He leaned closer to Peter, looked in his eyes and grinned. “Just think about it. Yes it is dangerous, yes it is scary and probably a little bit crazy, but we are in the unique position to do something. The police can’t do anything, the government in general is too corrupt or clueless about it to do anything and other werewolves are too scared. Give me one valid reason not to give it a try?”

  
  
  
  


Peter raised one eyebrow at the question. But even though he knew a few possible reasons not to agree to this he couldn’t deny Stiles was essentially right and made a quite convincing argument for it.

 

Still…

 

“We could die.” He said it, because he felt he had to point it out at the very least, but it was more of a redundant statement. A statement Stiles metaphorically swiped away with one short hand movement.

 

“We can always die, why not make it count. But also, don’t try to tell me a smart guy like you doesn’t have some kind of backup plan in case he goes belly-up…”

 

Peter could hardly argue with that so instead he simply offered the mage a quiet smirk. It was clear by now Peter’s mistake had been ever telling Stiles about Deucalion at all. Stiles had proven quite well he wouldn’t quit this endeavor with or without Peter.

 

So if he only had the choice to do this with Stiles or watch Stiles try to do it without him he knew what his choice would be.

 

“All right then.” He sighed and leaned back, kind of glad to have come to a decision. “We become mates, we work out the details of the plan, bring Deucalion to justice and live happily ever after…”

 

It was impossible to keep the sarcasm out of the statement, but he did mean it.

 

He actually agreed to doing this.

 

Stiles smiled and visibly relaxed. “Great.” Then he kind of deflated further and seemed mostly just tired.

 

He had to smile again, Stiles probably hadn’t eaten or slept a lot the last few days, it made sense considering what he had accomplished in such a short time frame. Once again he was impressed and although he still wasn’t sure what Stiles intentions were regarding their actual relationship he still felt like maybe they should seal their deal with something to eat.

 

“So...how does pizza and beer sound to you?”

 

Stiles sighed as well and then smiled “Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


	5. Mating

Pizza and beer had been nice.

Originally Peter had proposed for them to go to his place and order the food because he had wanted to invite Stiles. In a way he had thought of it as an apology for being butthurt about Stiles’ reaction. Since although maybe a misunderstanding, Stiles didn’t really react unreasonably. But the mage had been eager for them to start working out the details of their plan so in the end they went to Stiles’ place and Peter only payed for the pizza and Stiles offered the beer.

They were sitting on Stiles’ couch now, everything about the werewolf council, the alpha pack and Deucalion lying out in front of them. Stiles was making notes whenever they found another angle they could possibly use to get an in and Peter more often than not just gave his slightly more educated opinion while watching the younger man.

They had been working more intensely while eating but now the pizza was gone and Peter felt his concentration drifting, his mind wouldn’t be able to absorb much more of this topic tonight.

  
  


 

At some point Stiles had enough. He wasn’t angry or anything, he understood Peter. It was late, all this was new to him, unlike Stiles who had been working on this topic for a while now and there was a whole lot to think about.

Still, it was no use to either of them if he tried to drag Pete further, they had to really work together on this, a small mistake  could get them in real trouble.

So, instead of moving on from Ennis to Kali he decided to put pen and notebook aside, giving Peter, who was staring at him, or maybe through him, his full attention.

“Let’s give that a rest for today. What’s on your mind Peter?”

The man blinked as if Stiles had pulled him out of deep thought and smiled  apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I lost concentration...there is a lot to consider.”

Stiles smiled back and nodded slowly and  knowingly .

“There is. Anything you want to share?”

  
  


 

He wasn’t sure if he was ready to share his thoughts. But when he looked at his own hands, lying in his lap, at Stiles, sitting on the couch, legs crossed and patient,  not annoyed or frustrated or anything, he knew they would have to talk about it and there was no reason to delay it. Stiles would understand the importance.

“Well the thought process started because I was thinking about sealing  our deal, actually  becoming mates. Then I realized we will have to actually do that eventually to be convincing and I thought tonight was actually a perfect night to do that, because it would loosely fit our narrative. Which made me realize, I would have to tell my sister about this at some point, because as my alpha so far she will be able to sense it. I realized I don’t know if I should tell her the truth. Because if she knows what we are planning she will have to lie to Deucalion, a superior in the council, should he ever ask her about it. But if I don’t tell her the truth and act as if I was actually claimed by you she might actually become a problem for us...even more so if she finds out you dragged me right to Deucalion’s metaphorical doorstep.”

  
  


 

Yeah, okay, that was an issue Stiles hadn’t really thought about so far, his focus had been on Peter and him. He’d have to tell his father something too.

Luckily he had some freedom with his job.

Since his actual purpose was first  response  to escalated social situations he had no long term cases to take care of. And as a mage with focus on empathic practices he was allowed to take time off in case he needed spiritual and emotional cleansing. It was actually required of him to exercise that right at least once a year, because emotionally unstable mages were a danger to themselves and others.

Peter’s situation was more difficult though.

Stiles hadn’t taken  into account what he had asked of Peter in terms of social conflicts.

Since they couldn’t be sure if they could continue their jobs the way they did right now while pursuing their plan Peter’s job required for him to find a replacement for his patients. He’d also obviously have to take holidays he might have had other plans for. And his sister…

Stiles never really met Talia Hale. He might have seen her before at the town hall or something, but never consciously. But by now he knew she was impressive. He had informed himself about her to understand her role in Peter’s situation. Her pack was small, but well organized. None of her nine pack members ever got in trouble since they were under her lead. She was officially mated with three of her betas and had kids with one of them but hadn’t married anyone. And only she and her children lived together permanently. It was mainly a family pack. Two of her children were alphas themselves and one was an omega.

Stiles understood why Talia couldn’t take action herself. She already used all her strength to defend their impressively large inherited territory and the pack members she had. Going against a person as powerful as Deucalion wasn’t easy if you had so much to lose, so much to live for. All that being true, Stiles didn’t doubt for a second Talia would hunt him down and kill him if she was convinced he had forcefully claimed Peter. The way Peter had voiced his concern, his sincere worry, made that much clear.

“What if you’d tell her what you would tell her if I as Evil Stiles had told you to tell her whatever makes her believe you were happy and everything was good?”

  
  


 

Peter furrowed his brows.

“Stiles...it’s late…”

Stiles smiled  apologetically.

“I mean, Evil Stiles probably knows Talia could be an issue. So he would tell Zombie Peter to make her believe everything was alright and you were safe.”

The idea wasn’t bad. The fact Peter hadn’t thought of it himself though was a clear indicator he was getting tired. It was hard to stay focused, maybe he should just give up and let his mind go with it’s spontaneous interests.

They achieved quite a lot already for one day anyways.

And staying on track seemed to come with more work than he felt capable of right now.

Changing topic felt less exhausting.

He smiled weakly “Zombie Peter?”

The mage answered him with a soft smile himself.

“Yes, you know, void of own will, loyal to his wicked master, you’d be my handsome, sexy Zombiewolf.”

Peter scoffed and glanced at one of the pictures of Deucalion.

“You make it almost sound romantic.”

When he looked up Stiles seemed a bit concerned.

“I didn’t mean to make fun of claiming, I just tend to cope with difficult topics with jokes and sarcasm because it’s easier.”

Peter sighed.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel like you needed to apologize. I think calling a claimed person a zombie, at least the kind of zombie you find in voodoo is not even all that wrong. And I actually like your humor and sarcasm. It just surprised me because as you described it I did think of it as romantic for a moment...because I was imagining it to be you…”

He saw the younger man’s face soften.

“I understand. While I would never want you to be void of  your own will, I do like the idea of you being mine, as long as you wish to be.”

He wasn’t able to hide his surprise.

“I’m not sure you wanted that to sound as committing as I conceived it…”

  
  


 

Stiles rolled his eyes and took Peter’s hand without hesitation, firm but not too tight between his own.

Faced with another person’s insecurities it often felt a lot easier to overcome his own. Yes, he wasn’t sure this would last, he was almost convinced Peter would eventually leave when they had achieved their shared goal. But it wouldn’t be him who would break it off. At least not if Peter didn’t change drastically for the worse. However they arranged it, he felt like having Peter with him was a good thing. As if Peter made him a stronger person.

So he was able to say what he felt with all sincerity.

“I meant what I said. You have a place with me, as long as you want.”

they looked at each other for quite a while longer than felt normal, Stiles trying to keep a confident expression and Peter apparently searching for something, probably a hint of deception. At some point Stiles felt like he had to break the silence so he said the first thing coming to his mind.

“Please let’s not break out into some kind of fairytale duet.”

He saw Peter’s eyebrows twitch in irritation but then the man let out a surprised snort of amusement and actually laughed for a short moment.

Afterwards he shook his head, still grinning and cleared his throat, now using his second hand to put it over Stiles’ hands.

“No, I actually was thinking about something more intimate.”

He had an idea where this was going but decided to tease Peter a bit.

Partly because he liked their banter but also because he wanted to be convinced it was what Peter really wanted to do.

“A duet can be very intimate.”

The wolf moved a little closer, squeezing Stiles’ hands gently.

“Yes, embarrassingly intimate but I thought about kissing you, I’m a lot better at kissing than singing.”

Stiles chuckled and freed one of his hands from Peter’s to reach for his tie and pull it gently towards him so their faces were almost close enough for their noses to touch.

He knew it was cheesy but he also knew he would regret not saying it so again he said what came to his mind.

“You can talk the talk but can you walk the walk?”

  
  


Peter felt a low, challenged growl in his own throat and the next thing he knew he lunged forward, pushed Stiles back, and his lips met Stiles’ hungrily. Stiles chuckled into the kiss and could feel how it fueled the werewolf further. With both hands Peter followed the sides of the mage’s torso down to his hips where he got a grip and pulled the two of them closer together. Stiles huffed as he was manhandled and their kiss was interrupted for a moment but had to smile anyway, delighted about Peter’s eagerness. Now he was entirely lying on his back and Peter was leaning above him, between his legs. Their hearts were beating, Peter could hear it and Stiles’ excited smile made him smile back, although somewhat more smugly as he gently caught the younger man’s wrists and took them into a firm grip over his head while using his now free right hand to caress the slightly exposed midriff.

“Your assessment?”

Chuckling again and using his legs Stiles pulled them even closer together.

“Disappointed if you stop now. So be a good wolfie and continue.”

Peter didn’t need to hear that command twice.

He buried his face in Stiles’ neck and started to suck at the soft skin, using his human teeth to tweak and bruise it. Instead of keeping a hold on the alpha’s wrists he used both hands to crawl under the shirt’s hem and explore his body further.

Stiles moaned at the sensation of Peter’s lips, teeth and hands. All the while his own hands without him consciously deciding to do so found their way into Peter’s hair.

But becoming aware the way this was going he would get seriously aroused fairly quickly he decided to make use of it and pulled at the man’s hair to force him to move up and meet his face.

Peter was worried for a moment but Stiles didn’t lose time.

“We don’t have to do this immediately, but would you like to become my mate tonight?”

There was a moment of hesitance but then it was replaced by determination.

“I’d love to.”

Stiles felt his heartbeat in his throat, he had never done that before so this was something new for him.

“Then let’s do this the proper way and move to the bedroom.”

“Good idea.”

Peter got a hold on Stiles’ ass with both hands and lifted him from the couch while Stiles held onto him with arms and legs as soon as he realized what the werewolf had decided to do. He had had a few other supernatural partners before but none with  mentionably more body strength than a human. It was a nice sensation to be picked up and carried around just like that, as if he weighed nothing.

“Which is your bedroom?”

Right, Peter hadn’t seen much else of his flat.

“The door next to the kitchen counter.”

As he spoke, Peter already walked towards the door and just as Stiles finished his sentence he felt the cool wood on his back. Peter opened the door while supporting Stiles with one hand, fingers spread over his butt.

He didn’t bother to close it again but instead walked right towards the bed, tossing Stiles on it after another short, intense french kiss.

Stiles made an ungraceful noise and looked up as Peter loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Realizing he was still in shirt and jeans himself he started undressing as well.

While his shirt and socks had come off easy the zipper of his pants was stubborn.

Peter, now naked and exposed in all his glorious handsomeness came to his rescue by unceremoniously yanking the jeans down over Stiles’ hips and entirely pulling them away.

For a moment they just looked at each other, both aware there were a lot of mixed feelings between them.

The look Peter had for Stiles was mostly soft though.

“Your heart is beating really fast Stiles. I’m aware there is this expectation for the alpha to take his partner but if you’d prefer I’m not opposed to taking the lead.”

Since Stiles really felt somewhat anxious he might not realize immediately if Peter was still okay with what they were doing he really appreciated the offer and nodded before taking a deep breath and releasing it again.

“For tonight I would like you to be in control, yes.”

The omega nodded at that and moved onto the bed, hovering over Stiles and giving him a reassuring smile.

“Just to be clear. Werewolves can’t get STDs and since I take suppressants there is no need to be worried I might spontaneously go into heat or something like that. The only thing that might happen is, that my body self lubricates. Since I’ve never done this before either I’m not sure but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Stiles nodded again.

“Yeah, I take suppressants too. Uhm in case you don’t...should I...I mean I obviously have lube and I do that often enough I-”

Peter kissed Stiles with intensity while he let his hand wander down to the man’s penis.

He smiled as Stiles moaned into their kiss at the first touch and welcomed the hands looking for something to hold onto and finding his shoulders.

When they paused with the kissing he smiled.

“Just let me do the work. I think I need to submit to you on my own.”

“Okay.”

They kissed again, and Stiles felt a need for them to be closer, more connected. He pressed himself up against Peter’s warm, firm form. His mind circled around Peter’s hand, tongue, lips, his scent and the noise of his low, longing growls between their kisses.

He was tempted to be proactive and give Peter a hand too, but honoring his agreement to let Peter do the work he didn’t give in to it.

Peter felt Stiles grow underneath his fingers and encouraged it further, aware his own erection was growing as well. While kissing was a nice thing though and he would have been perfectly happy to do only that for hours, because it felt great he also recognized a growing desire to take Stiles’ cock. To know what had to be done before they could actually mate he stopped stroking Stiles and checked his own entrance.

Realizing he was in fact lubricating and also otherwise adjusting to the situation Peter was a bit surprised after all. He had heard the mentality, the desire to mate could sometimes be enough to trigger the physical readiness for mating even if not in heat already but he hadn’t actually believed it would happen to him. He had mostly mentioned it to Stiles just to make sure it wouldn’t possibly shock him at the off chance it did happen.

As he got over the first surprise he continued as intended.

Since he realized his body wasn’t fully ready yet he decided to do the next best thing to cater to his own needs.

He let go of Stiles’ lips,  and Stiles made a short whiny and needy noise in protest before Peter’s lips started a trail down from his bruised neck to his perky nipples and further down to his happy trail. Stiles muffled a slightly surprised moan as Peter went from below Stiles’ bellybutton right to swallowing his cock whole. His hands almost involuntarily moved to again get hold in Peter’s hair, but he restricted himself at the last moment and instead clasped onto his sheets. He wouldn’t challenge Peter’s control and getting a grip on his head would have been just that right now.

Peter didn’t intend to make Stiles come right now so he kept his pace slow and relaxed, only lazily playing with the sensitive little string of skin at the bottom side of the head. Feeling the blood thrumming through those veins and the small moans, sighs and groans his efforts evoked stimulated him further. Once in awhile he checked the changes of his own body until he finally felt it was at a point he could work with.

Gently he motioned Stiles so they could change their positions a bit until Stiles was sitting, leaning against the headboard of his bed and Peter was straddling him.

Peter gave Stiles’ erection a few more strokes while looking him in the eyes.

“Are you ready?”

Stiles could hear nervousness in Peter’s question but no second guessing so he nodded and smiled, welcoming.

“Yes, ready when you are.”

Peter smiled back and positioned the head of Stiles’ cock at his entrance.

Slowly lowering himself onto Stiles he closed his eyes and his mouth fell slightly open as the alpha’s head started to stretch his inside further and further.

Stiles’ eyes were fixated on Peter’s face, mesmerized by the concentration and focus in it. His mouth too fell open in a silent, choked moan as he felt the heat of Peter’s body engulfing his erection and his hands fell subconsciously onto Peter’s hips. The man took both hands and intertwined their fingers while letting himself sink down another inch, a silent moan stuck in his throat.

The last bit of distance was overcome and just as Peter opened his eyes, they both let out a breath, realizing just then they had held it.

Something seemed to fall into place the moment they were connected like this. It felt like two pieces of a soul puzzle perfectly clicking into each other. It wasn’t an intense or aggressive feeling, just the calm sensation to fit.

Stiles loosened one of his hands from Peter’s and reached up to cup his omega’s face. Peter leaned into the touch, closed his eyes for a moment again and smiled. Then he opened his eyes again, grabbed his alpha’s hand, guided it to his mouth to press a chaste kiss on his knuckles and started moving his hips in a slow pace.

Their eyes stayed locked as their breathing became more pronounced. Stiles was surprised how strong his need to do something was. He wanted to grab Peter, kiss him, push him onto the mattress, bite his neck and make him his. But he didn’t. The werewolf had said he needed to submit to him on his own and Stiles understood that. He understood someone as smart and independent as Peter needed to make such a decision consciously, everything else probably either wouldn’t work or feel like a violation of him as a person.

So he simply stared, at this beautiful man, his torso, the play of the muscles underneath his skin, the back and forth of his hips, his face turning from determined and serious to longing and desperate the closer both of them moved to their desired climax.

Beautiful.

Peter was truly a stunning sight at any given day but this, the tension, the vulnerability, the strength.

Before he could say anything though he was caught off guard by a particularly intense thrust of Peter’s hips and moaned loudly.

The werewolf chuckled and leaned down for a short, breathless kiss before gripping the headboard of Stiles’ bed tight with both hands to get more leverage.

“Please touch me.” he said in a demanding almost needy tone. Stiles had no issue with that and started pumping Peter’s cock while Peter himself rocked them closer and closer to the climax.

By now they were both moaning and groaning, and when Peter could feel his own movements getting less rhythmic, less controlled and more strained he could feel how Stiles put all his effort into getting him over the edge.

It only took a few strokes and the wolf came, his cum covering Stiles’ chest while his insides spasmed and tensed around Stiles’ erection, pushing him over the edge as well.

They both somehow sensed, experienced the moment Stiles filled Peter with his sperm. While before they had felt something click this right now acknowledged their new forged bond. They had mated. Realizing how all it took to mate was intention and cum kind of took the romance out of it, but this was it, now they were mates.

Peter rolled to the side and sighed heavily before laughing lowly.

“Your assessment my Alpha?”

Stiles hummed and laughed lowly himself, one hand lazily caressing Peter’s face and neck.

“Satisfied. Very satisfied and happy. I’m happy you are the person I did this with for the first time.”

Peter smiled at that.

“Right back at ya. Thanks for letting me do this my own way.”

The mage’s face turned serious and caring.

“Of course, you can always trust me to care about and respect your needs.”

Before Peter could mention how much he appreciated that assurance though, a humorous glint appeared in Stiles’ eyes and his voice turned mock authoritative.

“Of course from now on we will only have sex my way. Which is to say I will bottom and you will give it to me good, put those awfully perfect abs to good use.”

Peter snorted and pulled Stiles into a sloppy kiss.

“Yes Alpha, whatever you wish.”

Stiles smiled, realizing how uncharacteristically happy he was right now.

He murmured “That’s a good omega” and they kissed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry about changing the rating to "Explicit" but I wasn't sure if the sex scene would still be considered mature and it'll probably already be one oft the more vanille scenes I have planned.


	6. Intermezzo

Peter had spent the last two days with Stiles, except for a few visits at his workplace to organize some things.

Talia had texted and later actually called to check up on him. But when he just told her he was working on the issue of finding an alpha she had accepted that as sufficient information. Peter had always valued his relative freedom from her as his default Alpha, just as he did now, since it made things a lot easier.

But two days had been enough to figure out what he was willing to tell her about their situation and what he wanted to keep from her.

Stiles had helped him with the details and Peter felt fairly confident this would keep his sister off their backs.

 

When he entered their family house in the early afternoon all present pack members, Talia, Cora, Derek and Max - one of Talia’s mates - were situated in the living room and turned their heads to him as he came in.

His sister, apparently in the midst of convincing Max to babysit put one hand on her hip, breathed in deeply and gave him a one sided smile.

“So you found an alpha. And apparently lost no time to mate with them.”

In response Peter leaned in the doorframe, crossing his arms and gave a weak smile, going for content but not all that happy.

“I did, and it’s actually a pretty handsome mage, so why would I waste time.”

 

There was a short expression of surprise and then his sister’s smile turned wary.

“And you are all right with how it is? I know I somewhat forced you to find someone but you know I’d never want you to do anything you are actively against.”

He shook his head and continued to smile back. He was still a bit upset she had forced him into taking this action. But he also felt sorry for not being able to tell Talia how great Stiles actually was. 

Only there was no chance in the world she would be okay with their plan as it was unfolding so far. And he still was convinced she shouldn’t have to possibly lie to Deucalion. Because while she had grown into an amazing leader, a decent liar and deceiver she was not. 

That was his forte.

One, he became more and more aware, which would be utilized quite a lot in his near future. After all, he was using it already.

“I’m okay with it sis, don’t worry. I might not be into the concept of mating in general, but this was quite all right. He and I have an emotional connection. Speaking of, I’m actually just here to pack some things. We decided to have something of a honeymoon. You know, get to know each other, strengthening the bond even further.”

He waggled his eyebrows a bit so Talia knew he was talking about sex.

Derek made a face and Peter grinned at him.

 

“Well that’s intense, but I guess it makes sense. After all he’s your very first mate. But will we get to see him soon? He could come over for dinner tonight before you two abandon us. Also I hope you cleared this with your work-”

Peter rolled his eyes.

“Talia, please don’t mum me, you already have three children, isn’t that enough?”

Moving from the door frame of the living room closer to the staircase he added an answer to the informal invitation.

“He’s a bit...unusual. I don’t feel comfortable with you meeting him yet, you might screw this up for me. So maybe when we are back.”

On the first few steps of the stairs he heard his sister yell after him.

“Can I at least get his name?”

Peter grinned.

“No, it’s Polish and I can’t pronounce it, I just call him various pet names most of the time.”

 

 

 

 

In actuality they were still days away from making first contact with their targets. 

They had agreed on Peter spending the planning phase with Stiles though. Because it made sense for their cover story of Stiles claiming Peter and thus basically owning him. And while neither of them admitted it, it was nice to have someone at night to snuggle up to.

Although Stiles hoped Peter wasn’t too bummed out snuggling was all they were doing. And even that not all that much.

He wished he could fully satisfy the lust he sensed with the werewolf quite a lot, but when he was fixated on a task most things, including sex, became secondary interests.

 

When Peter came back with his bag full of clothes and some other stuff, the mage was chatting with someone online and Peter suspected it was a deep web connection. His newly acquired alpha had been deep in that territory quite a lot.

“Hi honey, I’m back” he piped jokingly and only got a short glance and absentminded smile.

“Hi...”

The werewolf shook his head and sighed in mock frustration before letting go of his bags and hugging Stiles from behind, his chin resting on the younger man’s shoulder, mouth close to his ear.

“You should be thankful I’m a simple omega who is satisfied with this fairly small amount of attention...it’s not bruising my ego at all.”

Stiles responded by patting Peter’s hand and chuckling.

“I’m talking to my online contacts and have spent more than ten days already on finding out how to take down a guy who threatened and terrorized you. All while considering how to meet your conditions. There is no need for a bruised ego. You get more of my attention than food and sleep do, not to mention every other person in my life.”

Peter smirked “Are you trying to guilt trip me into leaving you to your work?” 

Stiles smiled at the werewolf through the reflection on his quite dark screen.

“Would that work?”

Peter kissed Stiles shoulder and neck, nuzzling it gently and murmured “Unlikely.”

Stiles reached up and behind himself to massage Peter’s neck while reading what his online conversation partner had just sent “Then that’s your answer.”

Peter hummed and smiled against Stiles’ skin.

“Wrap up your conversation for now darling, I intend to get some decent food into you. Fresh vegetables and protein, none of your instant crap.”

Stiles hummed as well “You whisper such sexy things in my ear, although if you want me to get some protein I could always just suck your dick…”

Letting go of Stiles neck Peter chuckled and gently caressed the other side of it while looking at him through the screen reflection.

“Don’t promise anything you won’t keep Stiles, I know after I got some food into that body you are off doing research again all night. And that’s fine with me. It’s part of the lovely, brilliant person you are.”

There was a deep sigh and the mage’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry, I know it must be frustrating.”

Peter shrugged.

“Wanting something and needing something are two very different things and while I want you, in all the different ways I only need to know you are okay and healthy. And I can always just jack off in your bed while thinking of your moans, scent and divine orgasm face.”

“You are so fucking cheesy.”

 

 

 

 

Peter had been right, after he got some vegetables and fresh meat into Stiles, the mage was already back to research. So he was left to gathering intel on the twins, since they eventually had chosen them as their first target.

They were the safest way in for Peter and Stiles, because they were the youngest, the lowest in rank, only really dangerous when they were together and although they maybe knew stories they never actually met Peter.

Convincing those two to trust them involved the least risks.

So far Peter hadn’t yet exhausted his own resources to find out things from the safety and anonymity of Stiles’ flat. But he got the feeling soon he’d have to physically surveil the twins and their pack to get anything more useful.

Pretty soon actually.

The only thing he hadn’t tried to get was some medical history from when they had still been underage. Because that was more difficut to get a hold of. Since it was the only thing left though right now he had started working on that.

 

As predicted though after a while of failure he sighed frustrated and leaned back into the chair he was sitting on.

“I’m done, without hacking those records we won’t get to see them. I tried every angle I could without someone getting too suspicious.”

Stiles looked up from his own computer.

“Send me what you’ve got. I have a friend who owes me a favor. He’s good with this kind of stuff.”

Peter smirked and shook his head while doing as Stiles asked.

“I’m not even surprised.”

Stiles smirked as well and then shrugged.

“You get to know a lot of different things about a lot of different people when you hang around a police station all your life.”

There was no denying it, the fact Stiles was such a surprisingly ‘bad boy’ only made him more attractive. Even more so because he didn’t necessarily seem the type at first.

Until you got to see that evil smirk as his beautiful brain started scheming that was.

 And while he could admire Stiles many qualities for hours there was stuff to do.

This evening he wasn’t getting anywhere with his research anymore though. So he decided to just do some chores and head to bed at some point.

 

 

 

 

It was a few days later when there was a knock on Stiles’ door. 

Peter stood up from where he had been sitting on the couch, answering work emails and arranging his leave, to take a look at who that might be.

 

“What is it?” Stiles yelled from the kitchen because he heard some words being exchanged and the door being closed again but nobody coming in. 

He hadn’t gone answering the door himself since he was cleaning up some dishes. It was to give himself a small mental break and not leave all the chores to Peter. 

It already felt way too much like the werewolf had to clean up after him constantly. Partly by his own choice though. 

Stiles simply was somewhat chaotic when he submerged himself in a topic. He was never bothered by that, but Peter for some reason had started to take care of him and his apartment.

He cleaned, cooked, forced Stiles to shower and change his clothes, he even made their bed every morning. Stiles wasn’t sure if it was Peter’s way to distract himself or if he felt obliged somehow. But it somewhat bothered him slightly.

When Peter came back he was holding something that looked like a file.

“There was a hot guy at the door, he said his name’s Danny? He asked me to tell you he just wanted to drop this off but had to be on his way.”

Stiles smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, Danny and I went to highschool together. Well and we went clubbing together at the Jungle when we were old enough...anyways, I guess those are probably the medical records you were looking for. Danny’s not a big fan of sending sensitive information through the internet...he’s cautious that way.”

 

Peter could get behind that. 

He made some noise to acknowledge he had heard what Stiles said but was already focused on the new informations he’d soon have to work with.

With curiosity he sat down in the small space on the couch, respecting the maze of old books and scripts Stiles had been constructing on the floor and furniture of the living room all early afternoon, before opening the file.

He started reading about the twins' teenage troubles, realizing this wasn't going to be an easy read. With his lips pressed together he read further while he heard Stiles keep doing the dishes in the background.

Soon the noises faded away though because what he read was pulling him deep into thought.

 

Stiles was done with the dishes and dried off his hands when he realized something was weird.

Peter could be silent for hours, just like Stiles when he was working, so that alone wasn’t it.

It was the way Peter had one hand gently pressed against his lips, the other clenched into a fist unless it was turning a page.

With slow movements Stiles came closer to the couch, until his body nudged the back of Peter’s head. He leaned over the man from behind, testing out if it was okay to touch him by extending one hand to gently lower Peter’s hand from his mouth. When that seemed to be okay he wrapped his other hand just as gently around that clenched fist.

“Peter...talk to me. Whatever it is, I’m here for you, you know that.”

 

Peter couldn’t answer, not immediately. But he leaned his head back against Stiles’ stomach, closed his eyes and was even able to relax his fist under Stiles’ hand’s mild force. He felt how Stiles intertwined their fingers and took a deep breath, realizing his Alpha was right.

He wasn’t lost in this, wasn’t on his own and Stiles was going to be with him every step of the way, taking most of the risk, making the hard decisions, protecting him, planning for every occasion.

He licked his lips to speak, but his mouth was pretty dry. So he closed his eyes and swallowed a few times, breathing in and out again before trying once more.

“They...they were pack omegas before they killed their Alpha together and inherited his powers. I knew they had been low members in the pack hierarchy, but there had been no mention of their social gender. This file is about a few weeks they spent in a hospital after being injured physically and mentally due to...their status…”

He wasn’t sure if he could really say out loud what the record was clearly showing.

“They had been mentally so abused it took them almost a month for their werewolf healing to kick in. I know of cases where it took years, but a month is still indicative for some heavy trauma.”

Stiles by now was tightly hugging Peter, stroking his head in a calming motion, closing the folder.

“What you are saying is, they got raped. Those poor boys. They probably only did what they had to to survive. I can’t imagine how reading something like that must be for you. It’s horrible. Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?”

Peter closed his eyes again, smiling sadly but thankful.

“It would probably be a lot worse if ever actually anything had happened to me but-”

Stiles put one finger over Peter’s lips without hesitation.

“No. I get what you are saying Peter, but trauma is no competition. Something did happen to you, you were mentally terrorized and abused. Your struggle with reading something like this is legit and understandable. So, with that in mind, once again, is there anything I can do right now?”

Peter shook his head and looked down at the closed folder in consideration of Stiles’ short but important speech. He wasn’t sure how to answer it. He knew what Stiles had said was exactly what he'd tell anybody else when saying what he had said. It didn't change how he felt though. So he simply tried his best to find a way to move on from there without giving Stiles anymore he had to handle and worry about.

Best probably to turn towards their next logical step.

“You are already doing more than I ever thought anybody would or even could do for me. Not to mention, this is good. I mean, it’s not. It’s really fucked up, but it’s good for us, right now, because it’s going to be our way in.”

He nodded to reaffirm himself.

“We can use this.”

“Are you sure you are okay with that?”

Peter actually genuinely had to smile at the wariness and concern in Stiles’ voice.

“We decided to do what it takes. We both knew that would mean doing some things we aren’t happy about. So yes, I’m okay with this. We can’t afford not to use it.”

“All right. Then let’s use it. But I think maybe for the rest of today we should let this stuff rest and instead watch some movies or something.”

“Maybe you are right.”

“Maybe I am. Come on, let’s clear the couch.”

 

 

 

 

It took them another three days until they were ready to move their operation to the field.

The twins’ pack lived almost a day’s drive from Beacon Hills and Peter had insisted they took his car. 

For one, it was a lot less memorable than Stiles’ jeep but secondly it also was faster and more reliable. Stiles had acknowledged those arguments after a few mopey seconds.

Now they were on the road and Stiles had been dead asleep about half an hour into the drive. 

Peter didn’t mind much. 

Stiles had been sleeping a lot less than Peter had and having to sit in a car together with no way to escape the silence or the stupid radio might have been awkward. 

After all they hadn’t really talked about many private things since they had started planning. They had not talked about anything beyond taking down Deucalion. Almost nothing not related to the issue at hand. 

The moment three days ago when Peter had found out about the twins being abuse victims had been about the most emotional situation they had encountered.

What were they besides accomplices? 

They were Alpha and Omega...but not a couple, not really. 

Stiles had said he wanted to be Peter’s Alpha and for Peter Stiles was still the only Alpha he could imagine actually devoting himself to, but it wasn’t like that had much real life value this early in such a purpose driven relationship.

It was very possible and likely their affection for each other would fade as soon as they weren’t on a mission together anymore.

So yeah, he was actually kind of glad Stiles was sleeping. Not only because he deserved it and needed it but also because they weren’t at risk of talking about Peter’s thoughts on their relationship simply because they had nothing better to do.

 

 

 

 

When Stiles woke up hours later Peter smiled at his crinkled face.

“Amazing how long and deep you are able to sleep in a car…”

The mage stretched his legs and arms as best as he could and let his neck make a quite unhealthy sounding cracking noise as he bend it left and right.

“Being able to fall asleep wherever, whenever kind of has been an ability of mine ever since I developed insomnia as a teenager. I used to stay awake as long as possible and then just crash right where I was pretty much the moment my body couldn’t take it anymore to stay up, not even with all the caffeine in the world. Sleeping in a car is no challenge.”

The therapist’s eyebrows were raised “You have insomnia?”

He had actually suspected that might be part of why Stiles tended to stay up that long, but he had assume it might just be due to their activities the last few days.

 

Stiles shook his head and thought about telling Peter the story.

He had buried that part of his life deep in the back of his mind and hardly ever thought about it anymore.

But at least it would keep them from having to make conversation otherwise or suffer in silence. After all, it wasn’t like he was still very emotionally attached to the story. He should probably just tell it.

“Not anymore. Turns out an evil spirit had been feeding off of me. I’ve been told it was actually lured to me because my soul was already vulnerable due to my mother’s death. And I don’t doubt that. The time after she passed away was pretty rough for me.

I mean, it hasn't been easy when she was still alive...doctors and mages kept her alive as long as possible. But when she died...

It wasn’t just her dying...it was also my dad...he was falling apart afterwards. 

He had an alcohol problem for quite a while and couldn’t stand being home for long.  He never abused me or anything but he also had no clue how to help me cope. 

He was just too deeply hurt himself about losing his mate.

So the evil spirit, some sort of japanese trickster fox demon, felt that and took advantage of it by taking possession of my body and mind. 

It made me not only basically stop sleeping but also question my insanity and self worth. 

I wouldn’t have made it through that time without Scott, Lydia and all my other friends’ support. 

Luckily said evil spirit has been eliminated by an tactical team of the supernatural law enforcement. Those are scary dudes by the way...really badass. Also kinda hot…their uniforms are really...nice...”

He smiled and cleared his throat.

"Anyway, while it has changed me as a person it also somehow has helped me and my Dad become an actual family again. 

Also a lot of therapy is what helped me to put all that behind me and use the experience of battling such an inner demon to relate to people in scary conflict situations. Situations where they are questioning their reality and are afraid for their safety and freedom and the legitimacy of all the emotional connections they value.

It hasn’t made me stronger, or better per se, but it has changed me. And in some ways that change has shaped the path I have taken in my life.”

 

Peter had to work through quite a few strong emotions, trying to find the most sensitive and least selfish thing to say while also trying not to fall into his therapist-voice and behavior.

The way Stiles phrased all that sounded like he had practiced it, he probably had told himself all that countless times, had reflected on the influence of the experience, reflected on his emotions, on what was important, what was destructive thinking and behavior. It sounded in parts like things from therapy and things Stiles had used as coping mechanisms on his own.

But it wasn’t his job to force Stiles to face things he apparently somehow had dealt with himself already, even if not in the most healthy way possible. The thing he should probably focus on was making sure this wasn’t going to bite them in the ass at an inopportune time.

Also he wanted to be sure Stiles was alright for now.

“Stiles, I know it won’t really help and probably not even matter much, but I am very sorry that has happened to you. It must have been scarring and terrifying. Knowing you survived all that only magnifies the respect and adoration I have for you as a person, and also somewhat makes me want to really get to know your friends and your dad some day.”

Not able to look at the man as he was saying those things Stiles looked at the trees rushing past Peter’s car and nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure if he believed those words, but he understood what Peter wanted him to know.

“Thank you. I appreciate it, and I get it, there isn’t much to say about something like that. It just happens and that’s that. All you can do is deal and move on. 

And I’d like for you to meet my friends and my dad when we are done with this thing too. Also, although it depends a bit on how awkward it might get, I think I’d like to meet your family and friends as well…” He smirked and gave Peter a quick glance “You have friends, right?”

With a fake offended huff Peter shook his head.

“I’m hurt....yes I have friends, although not all that many. But speaking of ‘this thing’. I’m actually a bit surprised you didn’t mention your past with that evil fox spirit before.”

“Huh?” The comment actually made Stiles turn and look at the werewolf driving the car.

“How so?”

Peter tried to keep his tone light, unbothered because he was worried he might scare Stiles into closing up about the issue if he pushed too hard and sounded too serious.

“It’s mostly just the similarities to claiming someone. I mean...you weren’t just magically and mentally abused by an evil spirit, if I understand you right it possessed you and tried to totally control your mind. It might sound harsh, but seems a lot to me like you were mind raped. Just not in the context of a claim...I guess I’m just somewhat surprised you didn’t use it to bond with me when I was still opposed to us bringing Deucalion down.”

Stiles was still staring at him.

A soft, emotionless “Oh…” was all he got and then the mage turned back to look outside the car, not saying anything more.

So now they had awkward silence either way.

Peter really hoped Stiles wasn’t somehow offended by what he had said.

But he knew whatever he might want to say to loosen the tension it’d just make things more awkward, so he kept quiet and kept driving.

 

After a while Stiles shifted in his seat to be able to look at Peter with at least one eye.

“Look"

He started and sighed deeply, as if making peace with something.

"I...I just never thought of it like that...but I guess one could. 

I mean there are differences but the effect is similar when it comes to the mental abuse...although at least I was able to break that control on my own...

I feel that probably helped a lot when it came to processing it...

I...it’s just not a topic I often talk about you know...I try to keep it in the past as best I can, and I got quite good at doing that with time...

So yeah...I mean...I don’t know...it wasn’t like you and I were voluntarily sharing abuse experiences at some point...all this, us, more or less just happened...so it just didn’t cross my mind until now to tell you about it.”

Peter gave Stiles a concerned side glance.

“I didn’t kick something loose though, did I?”

Stiles furrowed his brows and shrugged his shoulders.

“Not entirely sure to be honest. But if you did it would have been kicked loose one way or another anyways, so don’t worry.”

“In case I did, at least you’ll always have a therapist near by.”

“A very reassuring thought.” Stiles said sarcastically and Peter actually gave him a rather gentle slap to the back of his head.

“Cheeky thing.”

“You like it.”

“Unfortunately.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I technically have a new beta, but she's a bit occupied atm so this chapter isn't beta read, which I apologize for.  
> This chapter took quite a while partly because I have a lot going on but also because I feel it's quite heavy with things like trauma, abuse etc.  
> Those topics are close to my heart but I absolutely didn't realize how this fanfic might grow with those topics when I started it.  
> I totally understand when anyone of you decides to stop reading. Although no matter where this is going to go in the future I can assure you I'll not write an actual rape scene. Probably not even atempted rape, because I don't think I could do that without really fucking myself up. So in that regard you are safe.


	7. Point of no return

They took a longer break as the sun started to paint the sky in the first pale pink of what might become a beautiful sunset.  
Peter was leaning against his car while Stiles got them something to eat.

  
They had only four more hours to clear.  
Peter felt the tension in himself but tried to stay calm.  
He couldn’t keep his thoughts from running though.

  
What were they doing here? They were a social worker and a therapist out to take down a criminal organisation all on their own.

Yes they had done their research, yes they knew how it was theoretically possible with enough time and finesse...but others probably could have come that far as well, people better trained for a situation like this than they were…

  
Though if there were people like that, willing to act, then government was probably what kept them from acting.

He was sure some group of officials must have had discussed taking down Deucalion before and decided the risks weren’t worth it - as officials did; moving around people’s fates on their glorified chess boards without bothering with the individual’s suffering caused by their decisions.

 

He sensed Stiles approaching but didn’t look away from the sunset in front of him until he felt his Alpha’s body lean against the car next to him, holding out a burger, onion rings and a soft drink to him.

  
“Was this a choice or did they not have anything healthy?”

  
Stiles shook his head.  
“If there had been a salad that wasn’t potato or noodles I’d have bought it for you you weird wannabe predator…”

  
Peter gave Stiles a tired smile.  
“There are other forms of healthy food.”

  
Stiles smiled similarly tired “I know, I made all of them for my dad when his heart problems got worse...I’m just teasing you.”  
With a short glare though he added “But it is hardly fair of you to judge me like this when you were the one to suggest burgers and fries on our first date. Don’t your-body-is-a-temple me…”

  
Peter furrowed his brows and frowned slightly.  
“That was before I knew it is the only thing you consume. So do I understand this right? There are heart problems in your family and you continue to eat almost exclusively greasy fast food and instant crap?”

  
There was a pause in which Stiles looked down at his own burger and Peter could see there was some kind of reason behind that don’t-care-attitude towards his own health. But he also sensed Stiles wasn’t willing or maybe also not able to share it yet.

  
He sighed deeply and took a bite of his own burger. At least it wasn’t from a fast food chain but freshly made with good ingredients and the meat had very little taste of antibiotics.

  
With his shoulder he nudge Stiles from the side.  
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to chide you. And those burgers don’t taste bad, this seems to be a surprisingly good place.”

  
Stiles looked back at the rustical building.  
“Yeah...it looked like it might be a small family business, at least from the atmosphere of the staff and the interior…”

  
“Makes sense.”  
Peter replied, took another bite of his burger and finally saw Stiles taking a bite from his own as well.

  
Stiles groaned and closed his eyes for a moment.

  
Peter suspected this kind of food was about more than not caring for his health. It seemed to give Stiles comfort, seemed to still some sort of craving.

There was probably something in his past that had rooted an emotionally positive response in Stiles for fast food. Burgers particularly.  
He would ask about this some day. But not right now.

  
“You are right, this is good.”

  
Peter nodded and tried one of the onion rings while they were still warm.  
They were good as well, the fat didn’t taste like it had been used several times before, which was something he highly appreciated.

 

While they were both eating in silence Stiles felt there was something unspoken between them but he wasn’t sure what it was until he deliberately reached out with his mind to read Peter’s emotions.

His partner seemed to be mulling around some doubts and worries.

  
A few moments he pondered what to say while he finished his burger and took one of his fries.  
“You know, my dad once told me being an Alpha is not about not being afraid of things but about facing things, doing what needs to be done even when you are. And even more so doing that when those you are responsible for are afraid too.”

  
He looked at the sunset and not at Peter but got some warm vibes from the man through the connection he had opened up.  
“Of course he said that in an attempt to make me believe I could be an Alpha the way others were...I didn’t understand it back then, not really...

Rationally yes, obviously, but emotionally I didn’t understand it.

Right now I feel like I do.

And I actually think there is something to be added.

It is part of it to be able to help those you are responsible for to face things despite their fears and worries as well.

I understand it now because I am afraid.

This is a terrifying thing to do. But it has to be done and I will do it.

I can sense your concerns too.

They are as legit as mine. But you can do this as well.

I am here with you and I will stay with you. We will do what needs to be done together.”

 

Peter nodded while looking at the sunset as well, holding an onion ring he had momentarily forgotten.  
“Okay.”

 

 

~*~

 

  
The rest of their meal happened in silence.

After they had eaten while watching the sun more and more disappear until all that was left was a pastel shimmer at the horizon Peter leaned his head against Stiles’ shoulder.  
Stiles in turn leaned his head against Peter’s temple and intertwined their fingers.

For a moment it felt like they had been fished out of reality and into a space between dimensions, a space apart from time where life was simple, being each other’s company was the only relevant truth and neither of them had to deal with anything beyond that.

  
It was peaceful and tempting.

  
Both of them knew they could just stop right here, stop that mission they had decided to go on.

They could just buy a nice place somewhere secluded, find work that sustained but not exhausted them and live an uneventful, quiet life together.

  
Yes. Tempting.

But unrealistic, romanticized and stagnant.

 

When the last light of the day had vanished the feeling went with it and they both broke away from each other to get back into the car and move forward.

Stagnation would be easy and was tempting but not what they really needed.

  
What they needed was to evolve.

The needed for things to progress into something better.

  
Things had stayed the same for far too long.

Things had to change.

  
And change them they would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who's still reading. You have my eternal gratitude for sticking with me through this unplanned hiatus.  
> Now, I know this chapter is short and it's mostly about coming to terms with doing something that feels scary and crazy, but it felt it was a good way to sound the bells for the next stage in the story.  
> Life happened and I somewhat misplaced the motivation for this story for a while but it is finally back, I took the time to get back into it again an am on track.  
> There is no promise I'll be able to update regularly but I will update and am still positive to see this story completed some day.
> 
> On another note, the story is also retroactively being beta read by my love, the Stiles to my Peter, the amazing [GracieBirdie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GracieBirdie/profile) <3  
> Many thanks to you Love<3  
> But she has a life as well, so it'll take a while until she catches up with the current chapter. So you'll have to deal with my unbeta'ed text for now.
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it <3


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